New Android Eyewear Wants To Compete With Google Glass

DeviceGuru writes with this excerpt from LinuxGizmos: "GlassUp, an Italian startup, has started taking pre-orders on Indiegogo for an Android eyewear display system billed as a simpler, lower-cost alternative to Google Glass. The GlassUp device is a receive-only Bluetooth accessory to a nearby mobile device, providing a monochrome, 320 x 240-pixel augmented reality display of incoming messages and notifications. GlassUp was unveiled at CeBit in March, and is now up for crowdfunding on Indiegogo, where pre-sales opened today ranging from $199 to $399, depending on whether it's a pre-release, pre-production, or full-production version. This is less than a quarter the price of the $1,500 Google Glass Developer Edition. Already almost two years in development, GlassUp is expected to ship to presales customers in Feb. 2014, around the same time Google Glass is expected to ship in commercial production form." And for Google Glass itself, there's at least one project to bring Google's own hardware an alternative operating system.

Comments

Glass alternative operating system

[__aahlyu4518]

EyeOS ?

Re:Glass alternative operating system

[plover]

Androeyed?

Re:Glass alternative operating system

[somersault]

ForEyes

Re:Glass alternative operating system

[davester666]

Androgenius.

Re:Glass alternative operating system

[greenbird]

iEye

Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

Nobody wants to wear computers.

Thank you.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[vikingpower]

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" ( Thomas Watson Sr., IBM, 1943)

Obviously a lot of folks do want to wear computers. Even if you don't like it.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[ElectricTurtle]

So all the people who paid out the ass to do it right now are figments of the imagination? And so all the people planning to do it upon release?

Grow up. The world is not a scaled up monolith of 'you'.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

How many people wear (as opposed to carry) a computer right now?

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Chameleon Man]

It's comments like this that are making me go to sites like Reddit for more insightful, open-minded discussion...something I didn't think was possible 2 years ago. There is a lot of interest in wearable tech, most notably Google Glass, which has been touted as something that feels natural and is very practical for real-world application. Take a second to look instead of living in your own world.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

I paid a thousand dollars to not need glasses after wearing glasses for half a century, now they're trying to sell me... glasses? These guys are probably trying to sell sand to Arabians and ice to the Antarctican scientists if they think I'll buy one.

But nobody wants to wear computers? You know those funny things you see hanging off of peoples' ears? Those are computer peripherals. Give me a voice-operated wristphone and I'll wear it. In fact, come to think of it, every digital watch is a computer, people have been wearing computers since the early seventies.

Dude, you're clueless.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

How many wearable computers are on the market?

A few watches? Anything else?

No...

So not all that surprising then.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

Odd, I am now considering paying a thousand dollars to not need prescription glasses so that I can wear non-prescription glasses:)

Watches are nice, and I agree that for text messaging these glasses are overkill, but sometimes you want to look up a reference and are using both hands to work on something. This looks promising, although very limited.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

How many people wear (as opposed to carry) a computer right now?

Fewer than 20 years ago, but you still see some watches out there.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[guruevi]

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, founder, chairman & president of DEC, 1977

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).

“Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan.” — Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts, 1948.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously a lot of people I desperately want to believe mentally retarded with too much money in their pocket because I'm too insecure to maturely deal with the fact that my tastes are not universal or objectively correct do want to wear computers. Even if you don't like it.

Fixed that for you.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[loufoque]

Reddit and insightful open-minded discussion in the same sentence?
Surely you must joking.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anachragnome]

"Obviously a lot of folks do want to wear computers. Even if you don't like it."

Obviously, a lot of folks want more surveillance in the US, even though others do not. What's your point?

Re:Let's Break This Down

[nightfire-unique]

Nobody wants to wear computers.

How is carrying a smartphone around in your pocket all day not wearing a computer?

Wearable displays can't come soon enough for me. I would love to be able to walk around while I attend conference calls, have chart overlays while I'm sailing, and not have to stare down at my phone while watching TV shows at the gym.

I'm also reasonably sure I'm not alone in this!

Re:Let's Break This Down

[maxwell demon]

Not every digital device is a computer.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[nickersonm]

I want to. I've been waiting for an acceptably priced HMD since they were available for many thousands in the late 90s.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody wants to wear computers.

Thank you.

And the iPod sucks compared to the Nomad, nobody wants a touchscreen smartphone, tablets are useless, anything else you want to add to slashdot's list of failed predictions?

Re:Let's Break This Down

[exomondo]

What's your point?

I think it's pretty clear his point is that the idea that 'nobody wants to wear computers' is false. What did you think his point was?

Re:Let's Break This Down

[exomondo]

Everything technologically disruptive is decried by a vocal minority here as something pointless or that "nobody wants". Remember the introduction of the iPad? Or of how nobody would want to touch the screen of their phone to control it? Or the pointlessness of the comparatively featureless iPod? Or gaming laptops?

Re:Let's Break This Down

[hot soldering iron]

Wear? As in "strapped or clipped onto their person"? Just about everyone that has a smartphone. What did you think they were?

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

It will work right up to the point where some guy is taking pictures of college girls' asses at the mall. Then it's all over.

Wearable computers are fucking stupid. And so are you.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

All the people who paid out the ass for Intellivisions were the smartest people in the world too.

Dumbfuck.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

Hi shill. Reddit is a gangrene-infected unwiped ass.

Wearable computers are a bag of catshit and a fan on a hot afternoon.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

Those funny things hanging off people's ears make them look like first-class douchebags.

Google Glass makes you look like a walking penis. They are a giant sign that says "I WILL NEVER HAVE SEX"

Anyone would look like a complete shithead talking to a wrist phone.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

"Google glass makes you look like a giant walking cock." -- me, 2013

There's a difference. See if you can try real hard to figure out what it is.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

How is carrying a smartphone around in your pocket all day not wearing a computer?

Because it doesn't hang off your face and make you look like an enormous walking penis. It also doesn't make every girl around you think you aren't uploading her tits to Facebook.

If your biggest problem is having to look down at your phone at the gym, you need a job.

Re:Let's Break This Down

[The Cat]

Here's one guarantee:

News Item, circa 2017: a man was arrested today at the Suburbs Mall for following hot college girls around taking HD video of their asses and uploading it through a live feed to YouTube.

Google was unavailable for comment.

right eye not partially obscured?

[anyaristow]

A human-factors thing that Google apparently didn't consider is that when you look someone in the eye you are almost always looking at them in the right eye. Even dogs know to look humans in the right eye (see PBS Nova episode "Dogs Decoded"). With Google Glass, the right eye is partially obscured by a camera/display, which is impossible to ignore.

These things look like the camera/display is more out-of-the-way. It may still be impossible to ignore if it's visible behind the glass, but it's got to be better than Google Glass.

Re:right eye not partially obscured?

[Sockatume]

If you're wearing Glass properly your eye shouldn't be obscured, the display should be above and to the right. It doesn't provide an overlay on your normal vision so it's perfectly OK (and preferable) to have it out of your normal eyeline.

Re:right eye not partially obscured?

[Sockatume]

(This is apparently something GlassUp considered a bug, rather than a feature.)

Re:right eye not partially obscured?

[anyaristow]

Every single google image search result shows the display part in front of the eye, or so close above it you can't fail to focus on it when you look at someone wearing it, and the opaque part is close enough it will be an obstruction until you have the person's attention and they are looking right at you.

This new project puts the HUD projector behind the glass, to the right of the face. It will hopefully be less intrusive to the way humans normally interact face-to-face.

Re:right eye not partially obscured?

[Anonymous Coward]

And if I am talking to you while you get distracted by your trendy Glass, I'll do my best to suppress the urge to grab your Glass, use them to perform an on the spot colonoscopy, then use them once again to send the results to all you social media friends.

People have demonstrated that they can't handle smart phones, let alone some technology that sits right on their faces.

Re:right eye not partially obscured?

[internerdj]

I think you are going to have to elaborate. This is /. Can you provide citation for the journal articles that describe this face-to-face human interaction thing and how it is normal?

film at 11

[Hognoxious]

Shit idea copied; result may well be shit, claim experts.

Google ideas

[vikingpower]

coupled with Italian design

and with hacked OS

PROFIT !!

Both will crush easily beneath the heel of a boot.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's bad enough that the swine in the government want to track
our every move.

If you wear such a device in public, you should be ready for
the consequences, which may not be pleasant.

Yeah, well...

[Anonymous Coward]

....too bad for them, nobody wants to pay $199-$399 for something comparable to a MyVu Solo which you can pick up NEW for $60.

FAILLLLLLL!!

Even cheaper version

[Anonymous Coward]

For $1.98 you can get a translucent sticker that goes over the lenses of ordinary glasses. It says "I'm a douche". The results are exactly the same.

I Am Fashionable

[Anonymous Coward]

Blue tooth headset over the ear? Check!
MP3 Player buds in ears? Check!
Big ass smart phone in off hand? Check!
FuelBand on and synch'd? Check!
Calculator Watch? Check!
Google Glass? Check!

I am ready to meet the ladies... Watch me and learn, all you girlie men!

Re:I Am Fashionable

[Anonymous Coward]

You are still making fun of us, but one day you will regret your past choices. It is people like us who have iPhones and buy Google glasses who drive society, the rest is just scum and should be put in labor camps!

If Indigogo projects are like kickstarter projects

[irp]

... Then the GlassUps will be at least 1 year delayed, and when - if - they finally arrive, they will be inferior, fragile, buggy and has to compete with Google glasses v2.

The idea is nice, I wish them the best of luck! And after donating to some kickstarter projects, I know they will need it. The path to a final product is not straight and easy.

For all of you who donate: Cool! And I mean this sincerely. You are willing to risk money for a great idea, I appreciate that. I've myself lost money on great ideas on Kickstarter... Too much money for my taste... This time I'll pass donating, I'm beginning to loose my faith in crowdfounding.

I'm holding out ...

[PPH]

... for Microsoft Glass.

Here's the problem

[aaaaaaargh!]

The problem is that if only a few percent, say 5% to 10%, of the population wear those things, surveillance of citizens will be constant and absolutely ubiquitous. And make no mistake, authorities will directly tap into these things one day, just as it is possible and routinely done with cell phones. Cameras in cities and shops are not even remotely in the same league, neither in numbers nor regarding possible abuse by governments, creeps, etc. (which doesn't mean you shouldn't be against them).

So even if you think these are cool gadgets now, please reconsider whether the long-term implications of being one of those creepswho wear them are really worth it.

zeyez

[Anonymous Coward]

What happened to Eyez Smartphone glasses?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zioneyez/eyeztm-by-zioneyez-hd-video-recording-glasses-for

Not augmented reality - annotated

[SuperKendall]

The information shown on the screen is not tied to what you see in front of you (nor can it be since the screen is so small).

The best term I have seen used to describe this in a talk on VR I attended was "annotated reality" - far more fitting, it describes a virtual "sticky note" over reality that you can always see.

It's better to be clear rather than have people think Glass and other devices like it are something they are not.

Re:Not augmented reality - annotated

[HiThere]

What I think is that they are the entering wedge of a new kind of game interface. One that's played with a virtual reality overlay on top of ordinary reality. (I've seen one smartphone version of a game that does this, and I don't even own a smartphone. But it tended to lead people out into the traffic. However, read "Halting State" by Charles Stross for a more developed explanation. In particular the game "Spooks" played within the book.)

Re:Both will crush easily beneath the heel of a bo

[maxwell demon]

It's bad enough that the swine in the government want to track
our every move.

If you wear such a device in public, you should be ready for
the consequences, which may not be pleasant.

FTFS: "The GlassUp device is a receive-only Bluetooth accessory to a nearby mobile device"

So, no tracking using this device.