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Atheer Offers a Wearable Display That's Glasses, Not Glass

Posted by timothy on from the look-deep-into-my-opaque-lenses dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A new competitor to Google Glass was unveiled Thursday at the AllThingsD conference. Unlike Glass, it shows augmented reality content in 3D and is driven by hand gestures and voice input." Here's a video demo. If you think complaints that Google Glass is creepy have merit, take heart: these aren't for walking around with.

33 comments

  1. And I thought... by seanthegeek9306 · · Score: -1

    And I thought Google Glass looked pretentious...

    1. Re:And I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And I thought Google Glass looked pretentious...

      It makes you aware of how insecure and inadequate you really are ... therefore it must be pretentious. Clearly this is the device's fault!

    2. Re:And I thought... by Osgeld · · Score: 1, Insightful

      no its the fact that someone feels that they are so important they can no possibility be out of the loop for a single moment, not even to look at their phone, that they are willing to strap something on their face in order to let the world know how insecure and inadequate they really are.

    3. Re:And I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      They're not to do work, they're for porn-watching. See all of those weenie-dipshit kids gesturing and sashaying to the music on their iPhones, in public? In another year or two we're gonna see those same histrionic weenies walking down the streets rubbing their nipples, erections clearly visible from beneath their trousers with perhaps a bit of tip peeking out from above the waistband. All because of the availability of porn on their headsets.

      Mark my words.

      -- Ethanol-fueled

    4. Re:And I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And what a glorious day that shall be! -Methanol-fueled

    5. Re:And I thought... by timmyf2371 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have to wear glasses anyway (and don't have the option of contacts). What's so bad about having some electronics built in to the frame that's already on my face?

      it's not about being out of the loop or feeling inadequate. It's about using technology and making it work for me.

      We had naysayers like yourself before cell phones were popular. It would be difficult to present a convincing argument that the advancement of cellular tech has enabled us to do things we weren't able to do before and that this has had a positive impact on quality of life. Wearables are merely the next step in this evolutionary process.

      --

      Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic
    6. Re: And I thought... by crdotson · · Score: 1

      I can't stand those pretentious people who can't stand being out of touch for a few hours until they get back. The idiots think they need a cell phone.

      I can't stand those pretentious people who can't stand being out of touch for a few days. The idiots think they need a phone.

    7. Re:And I thought... by Osgeld · · Score: 1

      yea like teenagers texting OMG right before they slam into a car full of kids

      I am not a nay sayer, I am just being realistic, you want a few ounces of crap giving you headaches go for it, but dont get too excited this is in its infancy, google glass is what newton was to iphone

    8. Re:And I thought... by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Don't be sure this can be used with perscription glasses. The current version of Google Glass can't. (They did say that they would be looking into solving the problem in a few years, but...)

      Also, that picture looked ... ugly. Their current version clearly needs a lot of work before it's a consumer device. (It also looked heavy, which would translate into uncomfortable.) And the way it hides your eyes is socially distancing...though I suppose that doesn't matter if you never talk to anyone in person. (Think movie stars. The function of the dark glasses is less to protect their eyes than to socially distance them. They remove the dark glasses when interacting with equals.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  2. omfg, terminator by lexsird · · Score: 1

    "I'll be bach!" ??

    --
    Take the Red Pill.
  3. The "natural hand gestures" are even worse... by Nutria · · Score: 1

    than people with Bluetooth headsets gabbing away as if they're schizophrenics talking to their imaginary friends.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  4. Kickstarter should get in on this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we can get a large enough group of people wearing these then we can finally crowd source charades. :) ...Or maybe even miming with a technical edge.

    OBS : That's the best 'trapped in a box' miming I've ever seen!
    GLASSES : Miming? What are you talking about? I'm just checking my stocks.

  5. Demo wasn't augmented reality by capedgirardeau · · Score: 4, Informative

    That demo was not augmented reality (at least the first half, it was too boring to watch the whole thing). It looked like a display system at best.

    The user had to pick their location from a globe they could spin. Then they pick their home offices? What did that have to do with augmenting the reality of them standing on a stage wherever the conference was looking at three well known people.

    Augmented reality is about looking at the world and having the computer augment what your eyes are seeing. It could be mundane stuff like yelp or tripadvisor ratings above stores or hotels you are looking at, or something cool like tracking the pulse of a person you are looking at to see how they react to questions you ask. It could be anything overlayed on your current scene that would augment the information you eyes can normally collect.

    Awkward gestures to pick a location from a globe and read a newspaper that has nothing to do with your current reality is not it.

    I like how they pointed out the user could see the people and scene on stage as well as the overlayed graphics we were seeing on the screen. What use would that be to see people standing around or whatever the scene while I tried to read a newspaper?

    They should just be honest and call them a 3d glasses based display with a kinect glued to the top frame of the glasses for input.

    --
    Wax on, wax off baby!
    1. Re:Demo wasn't augmented reality by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 2

      Spoiler: they didn't show any AR in the second half, either. If it makes you feel any better they did say it was a conceptual demo.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    2. Re:Demo wasn't augmented reality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Baby steps, man. Baby steps.

      I want a personal Holodeck too but these things take time to create. Give it some patience.

    3. Re:Demo wasn't augmented reality by naff89 · · Score: 1

      Advanced software will come with time. All they'd have to do is open the API and run an app store, and they'd be set.

      The hard part is getting people to wear the displays in the first part.

    4. Re:Demo wasn't augmented reality by citizenr · · Score: 1

      It was just Kinect glued to the head :/

      PrimeSense Capri 1.25 http://www.primesense.com/solutions/sensor/

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
  6. Hosts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Those hosts have to be worst ever.

    "Ok now here is a demo of some new tech, now EVERYONE TALK AT ONCE!!!"

  7. The hosts needed to shut up by sir-gold · · Score: 1

    The two hosts should have let the representative give his demonstration in peace, instead of constantly interrupting him mid-sentence. It made the whole presentation nearly unwatchable

    1. Re:The hosts needed to shut up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The two hosts should have let the representative give his demonstration in peace, instead of constantly interrupting him mid-sentence. It made the whole presentation nearly unwatchable

      This is how average Americans talk to each other. Ever see an American talk show? Those guys have their own shows because they're the champions of it. It's also why average Americans repeat themselves so much. Even when you are listening and don't interrupt them, they are so used to running it on autopilot that they do it anyway. And heaven forbid you actually take a few milliseconds to formulate a thoughtful response about a nuanced topic - they'll just start repeating themselves again like you're slow-witted and didn't understand.

      When you're a thinking person and you listen significantly more than you speak, this American tendency makes sales or customer service type of work quite annoying. It's some kind of ADD/ADHD/constantly-in-a-hurry-burnout-lifestyle-ratrace deal.

    2. Re:The hosts needed to shut up by funkboy · · Score: 1

      Do you think generalizing about the inhabitants of a country of 320 million people/10 million km2 will help the problem?

    3. Re:The hosts needed to shut up by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Informative

      This is how average Americans talk to each other. Ever see an American talk show? Those guys have their own shows because they're the champions of it. It's also why average Americans repeat themselves so much.

      Well no. We repeat ourselves because the average American doesn't listen. Interruption is just a symptom of that. They're not really aware that you're saying something, they're more caught up in deciding what they're going to say next.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Apples and Oranges? by twistofsin · · Score: 2

    "A new competitor to Google Glass.."

    "If you think complaints that Google Glass is creepy have merit, take heart: these aren't for walking around with."

    Okay so .. where does it compete with Google Glass again? Just because they both hang on my face it doesn't mean they are vying for the same market.

    1. Re:Apples and Oranges? by Myopic · · Score: 1

      More like comparing Pink Lady apples to Honeycrisp apples. They are very similar products, but not exactly the same. I would compare it to the similarity between Bluetooth and Wifi.

    2. Re:Apples and Oranges? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "A new competitor to Google Glass.."

      "If you think complaints that Google Glass is creepy have merit, take heart: these aren't for walking around with."

      Okay so .. where does it compete with Google Glass again? Just because they both hang on my face it doesn't mean they are vying for the same market.

      They compete for your face. You can only wear one - so you will only want to pay for one. The use cases may be different - you can still only wear one. So they compete. Similiar to how very different cars 'compete' because most people have only one.

  9. charlatans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fake demo, fake software, fake 3d, everything fake... they're full of crap

  10. VR headset and groping mid air, really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Something 90s called something back.

  11. Jeri Ellensworth is making better AR glasses by Nyder · · Score: 1

    http://hackaday.com/2013/05/31/jeri-spills-the-beans-on-her-ar-glasses/

    What she is making sounds cool. And she doesn't make you watch an ad (bastards!). Though the pod cast is like 30+ mins.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  12. Aren't for walking around with? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then what the hell makes them "wearable", if I can't wear it and go about my business? I thought that was the definition of wearable computing. This is just a take on the old nineties VR paradigm then.

  13. oh yes this is really what i want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    oh yes this is really what i want: 3D ads swirling around me... no thanks

    (haha! captcha: corrupts)

  14. Great by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 1

    Now I'll never be able to tell the schizophrenics from everyone else on the street.

  15. Johnny Mnemonic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is so cutting edge, Keanu Reeves used it in 1995!

  16. idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't usually rtfa, but i thought i'd check out the video...clicked the link on my android tablet and it pulls up a list of headlines in a very unappealing pseudo-mobile format, but no video.
    If these morons cant even figure out how to post a video that works on , then they couldn't possibly have managed an assistive technology device that is useful either