Smartglasses

Smartglasses: The Future of Wearable Technology

Imagine a world where your glasses aren’t just for seeing, but for enhancing your vision with digital information. That’s exactly what smartglasses are all about.

The Basics of Smartglasses

Smartglasses are eye or head-worn wearable computers that display information alongside or to what the wearer sees. They can include features such as headphone functionality, optical properties, and augmented reality capabilities. These devices can perform pose tracking, superimpose digital images onto a field of view, and run self-contained mobile apps.

Features and Applications

Some smartglasses models have features found on smartphones, such as activity tracking functionality and full lifelogging capabilities. They can be used to record historical data, such as exercise activities, and can serve as an extension for mobile phones. Smart glasses could be used as body cameras, with Chinese police using them in 2018 for facial recognition and tracking suspects.

Healthcare Applications

In healthcare, smartglasses have been proposed as a tool for tele-consultation during operative procedures. Research suggests that they can provide usable pictures and video for education and reference. However, improvements are needed to stabilize the video function during transmission. Battery life can be extended with an external battery.

Control and Integration

Controlling a device or programs from another device is needed for some features due to a sterile environment. Text-to-speech had a correction rate of 60% without medical thesaurus assistance. A Google Glass protocol displayed on screen was helpful during procedures, including interventional radiology and surgeries.

Techniques for See-Through HMDs

Techniques for see-through head-mounted displays (HMDs) include curved mirrors and waveguides. Display types have been used in various products, including EyeTaps, Meta 1, Star 1200, Olympus, and Laster Technologies. Various waveguide techniques have existed for some time:

• Diffractive waveguide – uses slanted diffraction grating elements
• Holographic waveguide – uses 3 holographic optical elements sandwiched together
• Reflective waveguide – uses a thick light guide with single semi-reflective mirror or curved light guide with partial-reflective segmented mirror array
• Virtual retinal display (VRD) – draws a raster display directly onto the retina of the eye

Smart Sunglasses and Human–Computer Interface Control Input Methods

Smart sunglasses use liquid crystal technology for dimming filters and adaptive polarization filtering. PolarView by LC-Tec offers analog dimming control, while ADF-type smart sunglasses can change their polarization filtering characteristics at runtime.

Human–computer interface control input methods include touchpad or push-buttons, compatible devices (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches), speech recognition, gesture recognition and hand tracking, eye tracking, brain–computer interface, and head tracking.

Notable Products in Development and Current Market

Development:

• Xiaomi Smart Glasses by Xiaomi
• b.g. (Beyond Glasses) by Meganesuper Co., Ltd.
• EyeTap – eye-mounted camera and head-up display (HUD)
• SixthSense – wearable AR device
• Orion – AR glasses by Meta Platforms

Current market:

• Magic Leap
• Vuzix
• Microsoft HoloLens Epiphany Eyewear – smart glasses by Vergence Labs, Snap Inc.
• Epson Moverio BT-35E, BT-40(S), BT-45C(S) – augmented reality smartglasses
• Everysight Raptor – smart glasses for cyclists
• Amazon Echo Frames – built with audio-functionality only
• Ray-Ban Stories – in partnership with Facebook
• Golden-i Infinity – wearable smart screen by Kopin
• Spectacles – sunglasses with embedded camera by Snap Inc.
• Frame – smart sunglasses from Brilliant Labs

Discontinued Products and Future Outlook

Discontinued:

• Google Glass
• DAQRI Smart Glasses
• Epson Moverio BT-35E, BT-300, BT-350, Moverio Pro BT-2000, BT-2200
• Looxcie
• castAR
• Airscouter

Future Outlook:

• Adults are willing to wear Google Glass if it offers a service that interests them, with 12% of respondents expressing interest.
• Business Insider predicts annual sales of 21 million Google Glass units by 2018, with Samsung and Microsoft developing their own versions in the next six months.
• Apple filed patent for an HMD device in 2006, and several hardware companies are working on similar smartglasses.

Recognition and Concerns:

• Google Glass received recognition from Time Magazine as one of the ‘Best Inventions of the Year 2012.’
• Artists have incorporated Google Glass into their work, including David Datuna’s public debut at The New World Symphony in Miami Beach.
• There are concerns over privacy and ethics regarding Google Glass, with worries about facial recognition, recordable conversations, and potential security problems.

Legal Issues:

• Companies in the US have posted anti-Google Glass signs, and users have found ways to bypass security measures or access sensitive information.
• The legality of Google Glass is a concern in several countries, including Russia and Ukraine, where it may be prohibited due to spy gadget laws. Concerns were raised about privacy and security issues with Google Glass, leading Google to announce a locking system. Several facilities banned its use before release, citing concerns over privacy-violating capabilities.

Conclusion:

The journey of smartglasses is just beginning, and as technology advances, we can only imagine the incredible ways these devices will transform our lives. From healthcare to everyday wear, smartglasses are poised to revolutionize how we interact with the digital world. Will you be ready for this new era?