Olympus Takes a Third Stab at Wearable Computer Glasses

Olympus puts wearable displays back in its sights. Photo: Olympus

Google might be wowing the world with its Google Glass wearable computing specs, but this seems to only inspire Olympus to work harder. The company best known for its cameras and audio recorders just announced a third attempt at augmented-reality glasses, and now we wait to see who will release a publicly available version first.

If Olympus’ wearable computing track record is anything to go by, Google will probably strike first.

The Japanese arm of Olympus announced Thursday the MEG4.0 prototype. The wearable computing device contains a 320×240 display that resides directly above the right eye of the wearer. This display placement is similar to how Google Glass handles its own optics.

But unlike Google’s wearable device, the MEG4.0 connects to a user’s smartphone via Bluetooth to deliver vital information. The HMD (Head Mounted Display) renders information using Olympus’ proprietary Pupil Division Optical System, which, according to Olympus, is bright enough to be seen outdoors without sacrificing battery life.

The MEG4.0 also includes GPS and an accelerometer to help determine the orientation of the glasses. Curiously, the glasses do not contain a camera, an element Google was keen to demo during its Google I/O keynote with a plethora of extreme stunts. It’s odd that Olympus, a company best known for its cameras, would eschew a camera in its computer headset.

While it might first appear that Olympus is trying to steal some Googly thunder, this isn’t the Japanese company’s first foray into wearable computing. In 2005, Olympus prototyped a pair of glasses that displayed alerts about incoming emails and mass transit schedules just below one’s sight line. And, in 2008, Olympus teamed up with Future Creation Laboratory and Human Media Lab to create a pair of glasses dubbed the Eye-Trek. These specs would display information to the wearer about nearby items of interest. Neither of these prototypes ever hit the market.

Information about a release date or which mobile OS the Bluetooth-connected glasses would sync with were unavailable in the press release. Unfortunately, like many companies that are based in multiple countries, the U.S. arm of Olympus was unaware of the Japanese announcement, and, as of press time, was unable to supply Wired with more information.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/olympus-resurrects-wearable-display-initiative/

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