First you’re going to see Glass capturing a Go Kart Racer in Burlingame, California – straight from the head of the user. This video is captured from Google Glass’ 5 megapixel camera and delivered at a cool 720p – make sure you turn up the quality of the video with the little gear in the lower right-hand corner of the YouTube rectangle. And don’t get too queasy!

The above video was recorded by Matt Abdou – see more hands-on action now!

Google’s Glass device will be delivered to the full set of over 1000 users in the public this week – while many more devices are out there in the wild, we’re certainly not expecting the full limited edition series to be seeing action in the public. You can find a whole lot more information on the Google Glass initiative in our Google Glass tag portal and through the timeline below.

In addition to this, you’ll find our own hands-on action with Google Glass coming up quick! We’ll be kicking around our own set of Glass units when we’re rolling with them in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll be sure to bring you along with us the whole journey long! Make sure you stick with SlashGear for the long haul!

According to The Financial Times, Google will manufacturer Google Glass in Silicon Valley in California. The search giant will be partnering with Foxconn to assemble the futuristic eyewear at a facility in Santa Clara, California. This is according to several sources familiar with the company’s plans.

If this turns out to be true, it would not only boost the reputation of Google, but it would hopefully encourage other electronics manufacturers to bring business back to the US from countries like China and Taiwan. It’s said that in the coming weeks, only a few thousand Google Glass units will roll off the assembly line.

However, it’s not said exactly how many employees the facility will hire, nor is it said whether or not the employees will consist of current Foxconn workers from China, or if the company will hire all-new staff for the Santa Clara facility. Of course, bringing over current Foxconn workers would completely negate the whole “made in America” initiative, but we don’t think Google would be that naive.

[via The Financial Times]

With the Vuzix M100 you’re getting a miniature computer that sits on the side of your head with an display that’s viewable through and eyepiece on the right or left of your head. Oddly enough, each of the demonstration units we’ve seen thus far sit on the right side of the head – similar to the most common Google Project Glass units in demonstration materials that’ve been public thus far. Beyond that and the fact that the Vuzix M100 also runs Android, this unit and Google’s couldn’t be more dissimilar.

With the Vuzix M100 Developer Program moving into its second phase with developer units being shipped over the next month, the wearable craze can once again continue to crash forth. We’ve seen not just Google and a set of near-veterans like Vuzix coming in to attack this upcoming market, but a possible entry from Apple as well. With Apple’s approach we won’t be seeing glasses, on the other hand, but the possibility of a wearable watch-sized machine.

Have a peek at our hands-on with the Vuzix M100 and have a peek at the timeline below to see additional adventures we’ve had with Vuzix wearable machines. They’ve been in this universe for several years now – it’s high time we had something as sleek as the M100 to see for ourselves!

Google and their official +Project Glass Google+ account has just reached out to all the Explorer Edition buyers, confirming that we’ll be learning additional details in a private Google+ Hangout Monday. This will include other lucky pre-order customers, as well as members from Google’s Project Glass team. Hopefully while engaging in a live Google+ hangout with actual developers from Google we’ll be able to learn some neat new things about Project Glass. Obviously we will let you know the minute we hear anything worth mentioning.

Project Glass made a huge splash at Google IO, when Sergey Brin took the stage and had a pair of the AR eyewear skydiving right into the event center in San Francisco. Since then we’ve seen plenty of patents, learned a few more details, and even saw Gmail’s lead developer head to the Project Glass crew. Stay tuned for additional details and hit the timeline below for further coverage.

This newest engine is able to be integrated into ski goggles, prescription glasses, and all sorts of lenses such as binoculars and monoculars – and the whole thing weighs in at just 10 grams. That’s .35 ounces for the OE-21 sensor that, at this scale, will be great for any and all augmented reality situations. When we saw Lumus solution back at CES 2012, it was a much more intense application, ranging all the way back to a 10-feet and an undeniably impressive 720p video feed. Now what we’ve got is a display made more for reading with a heads-up display.

This newest solution has a 19-degree field of vies and a full-core 640 x 360 picture, perfect for smaller applications. We fully expect this engine to be showing up at Mobile World Congress 2012 along with all the other smart glasses-like devices that will undoubtedly be showing their tech on the floor. Have a peek at a couple of images provided by Lumus for this newest device and, of course, enjoy the video above of your humble narrator bearing it all for the CES 2012 Lumus model.

There’s a promotional video for this project that you’ll be able to see below, and the folks at Gizmag had a talk with Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research Connections Desney Tan to see what they’re all about. This isn’t the first set of experimental contact lenses that’d be able to help out those with diabetes make their life simpler, but it’s certainly the most advanced. As Tan notes:

“There are now various groups working on non-invasive measurement of tear glucose. Professor Zhang’s lab has been largely using nanostructured optical probes embedded in hydrophilic hydrogen lenses, and they’ve had some successes recently. This required a whole new engineering process, since traditional integrated circuit processes would not work. …

[We've] only begun to scratch the surface of the opportunities that exist with this type of platform. The most important challenge is really in the deep exploration of all the things not yet imagined with this platform, and new platforms enabled by this new-found capability to create other technology of this form.” – Tan

This project is creating what they’ve tentatively named Functional Contact Lenses, and within them is an enzyme which interacts with tear fluid. As the enzyme reacts, specific measurements are made as changes in current occur, this monitoring done by bio-compatible electrodes on the lens. As this project creeps ever closer to completion, Tan notes that its certainly possible that “as soon as everything is ready” the first models will report information wirelessly to a device inside its range, a device which “could be an augmented smart phone.” We’ll see about that!

[via Gizmag]

The Eyez have an attractive design; pretty much the classic pair of sunglasses. The lenses are 100% UVA/UVB. The tinted lenses can also be swapped out for a clear pair or fitted with prescription lenses by a professional (kids, don’t try this at home). The HD 720p camera is concealed inside the body of the glases, and battery life is an estimated 3 hours of recording time per charge. The Eyez can communicate via WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth v3.0, or micro USB.

Currently most live social network streaming is being done through phones or camcorders, and most is not actually live, it is uploaded after it is recorded. Using the Eyez free Android or iOS app, smartphone users can wirelessly upload their video in real time or stream to a blog or live video feed. One problem that other similar products have run into is bandwidth. Unfortunately not all cellular networks are created equal, and live video streaming has been problematic when users were attempting to stream over networks with speeds of 3G and slower. Most major metropolitan areas are getting decent 4G and LTE coverage, but it is still not everywhere. It can be very frustrating being limited by the speed of the network.

The MSRP of Eyez is set at $199, but ZionEyez is offering a limited-time special of $149 to anyone that is willing to pre-order a product with an unspecified release date.

[via ZionEyez]

Connectivity is via Bluetooth, which tethers wirelessly to Martin’s iPhone, while input is through a Nokia Bluetooth keyboard.  The Beagleboard is running Angstrom Linux and outputting graphics through S-Video; the OS is stored on an SD card.

So far Martin has experimented with a few different ways to carry his compact computer: the bandolier strap gets geek-points, but squeezing everything into a CD wallet and wearing it on a discrete shoulder strap probably makes you stand out less in public.  The four AA batteries are good for up to three hours of use, though you could always slap a few more in if you don’t mind the extra weight.  Geeky, yes, but still very cool if you ask us.

The Eye-Trek casing is big enough to take a laptop webcam assembly with little fettling, and that hooks up directly via USB to the netbook.  F00 fitted a mini USB port so that he can switch out different lengths of USB cable; usually the Eee PC slips into his rucksack.

As for what it can be used for, an app called Camspace allows you to control the netbook using hand gestures, and F00 plans to add GPS functionality showing on-screen coordinates in the top corner of the display.  In fact the only problem is that you’ll look vaguely ridiculous all the time, though you could always add some AR functionality that overlays happy expressions over their incredulous faces.

[via Hack A Day]

The Golden-i is the result of several companies collaboration: Kopin came up with the initial idea and supplied the SVGA microdisplay, while Motorola put the whole thing together.  It’s based on a TI OMAP3 chipset, while Hillcrest Labs and Nuance had a hand in the motion-control and voice-recognition, respectively.  OS is Windows CE embedded with a custom UI on top, and the battery is good for up to 8hrs use (or, in other words, a full industrial work shift).  Connectivity includes Bluetooth 2.1, mini-USB and a microSD card slot, and the body of the PC is squeezed into the rear band section that’s specially designed to be comfortable even when wearing a hard-hat.

An adjustable speaker sits by your right ear, while the eyepiece is intended to fall just beneath your line of sight; Kopin have made two versions for those with left- or right-dominant eyes.  Focusing is controlled by a simple thumbwheel, and the eyepiece also houses the dual microphone array.  That’s important, since much of the interface is controlled by speech; from the main menu of icons, you merely speak which option you’d like – “photo gallery”, say – and the Golden-i takes you into it.  You can then select individual files, again by voice, and manipulate them with straightforward commands: zoom in, for instance.

Photo and document viewing is linked to motion-control, so moving your head around pans around the zoomed-in picture; alternatively you can lock it, again with a verbal command.  Accuracy was pretty much 100-percent, albeit in a relatively short trial; Kopin say they worked on Nuance’s voice-recognition systems to boost accuracy to around 98-percent.  Of course, you could always hook up a QWERTY keyboard (either by USB or Bluetooth) for more extensive text-entry.

The next-gen models, beyond this development device, will be less bulky and have more functionality.  Kopin say they’ve shaved a half-inch of thickness off the rear PC section, have a 1024 x 768 display that’s the same size as the SVGA panel, and that they’re putting in faster Bluetooth 3.0 too.  They’ve also been looking at potential peripherals, everything from a laser keyboard and wirelessly connected modem, to a Bluetooth pen packed with gyroscopes that allows you to virtually sign a document just by gesturing in mid-air.  There’ll also be a snap-on webcam, generally looking forward but detachable – and wireless – so you can direct it into enclosed spaces or turn it back on yourself for video conferencing.

Kopin’s target market is industrial users, such as engineers, warehouse managers and medical professionals, who need data access while simultaneously keeping their hands free.  An engineer repairing a server, for instance, could consult the technical manual to check up which wire was which, without having to reach for their laptop.  Broad availability isn’t for another year, but the company are offering this development version which comes with the open-source software (for user-customization; you could even put Android on it if you wanted to) and a Motorola ruggedized field-PDA right now.  With a data connection, you can remotely log into a server or PC and access it as if you were at your desk, all using speech-commands.

Would I actually wear a consumer version when they go on sale in – according to Kopin – a few years time?  At a trade show, despite the odd looks, yes, I reckon I would.  Attempting to navigate the MWC 2010 halls was a recipe for collisions, as 50-percent of the people at any one time tried to simultaneously rush to their next appointment and look at their cellphone.  When you start trying to throw in Twitter, responding to last-minute meeting room changes or tracking your schedule, all of a sudden the idea of a floating display you can quickly glance at without sustaining a glancing blow off the nearest pillar seems reasonably tempting.

Hopefully, by then the price will have dropped a little.  The development package costs around $5,500, and while Motorola – who will be distributing the Golden-i when it sees its full launch – haven’t confirmed retail pricing they’ve said it will be in-line with a ruggedized PDA, which are around $2,500 themselves.  Where it gets particularly exciting is when you start wondering how technologies like Texas Instrument’s gesture-recognition, also demonstrated this week, might fit in; Kopin admitted that augmented reality systems are also in the works, with the webcam tracking your hands and reacting accordingly.  Yes, I might look pretty ridiculous, but I think I could suspend my shame for that.

Kopin Golden-i wearable PC demo:

The system basically incorporates a set of Vuzix’s WRAP 920 eyewear while the two cameras together create a 1504 x 480 image that can be viewed in 3D.  A motion-sensor tracks movement – including exact X/Y/Z position and roll/pitch/yaw – and moves the on-screen display according to your head movement.

In their demonstration, Vuzix had the 920AR hooked up (via USB 2.0) to a laptop, and handed us a board of AR glyphs which the software could identify, track and overlay with different graphics.  Those graphics moved around in sync with head movements.  Of course, the practical applications are pretty much up to the PC and Mac developers to whom Vuzix are hoping to bring on board; the obvious use is gaming, and we saw two similar systems – from the University of Singapore and Scope – last month.

However, since you could feasibly walk around with the 920AR headset in place (and not trip over) there’s also the potential for more futuristic heads-up display use from a wearable computer.  The responsive performance of the Vuzix system has us wondering about when we’ll be able to connect our smartphone and have not only AR apps like Layar overlaid onto our everyday viewpoint, but floating SMS, email, IM and Twitter alerts too.

The WRAP 920AR headset will go on sale in Q2 2010, priced at $799.99.  Vuzix also tell us that existing WRAP eyewear owners will be able to buy the stereo camera kit and motion-tracker to upgrade their systems, though no pricing or availability has been released.

The wireless power is picked up by a loop antenna built into the lens, and future iterations of the hardware are expected to integrate the transmitter into a cellphone.  There’ll also be far many more LEDs involved, so that the resolution is high enough to be useful.

“Conventional contact lenses are polymers formed in specific shapes to correct faulty vision. To turn such a lens into a functional system, we integrate control circuits, communication circuits, and miniature antennas into the lens using custom-built optoelectronic components. Those components will eventually include hundreds of LEDs, which will form images in front of the eye, such as words, charts, and photographs. Much of the hardware is semitransparent so that wearers can navigate their surroundings without crashing into them or becoming disoriented” Dr Parviz, University of Washington in Seattle

Future plans see the opto-electronic lenses being used for more than just displaying data; they’ll also be able to monitor the eye’s surface chemistry, which would allow wearable computers to keep track on blood sugar levels in diabetics and other information.  Parviz’s eventual goal is the contact lens becoming a platform “like the iPhone is today”, with developers creating custom apps.  However it seems that’s a reasonably long way off into the distance.

[via Slashdot]

Thanks to the VR920 there’s stereoscopic 640 x 480 video, together with stereo audio, and the Gumstix adds a 600MHz Texas Instruments OMAP3530 chipset, WiFi and Bluetooth.  There’s also a 3D tilt sensor, digital compass and a microphone, despite the whole thing weighing just 180g and drawing 1 amp at 3.7V.

Altogether it’s less than $1,000 worth of components, which sounds like a lot until you remember exactly how much NEC are asking for their own wearable computer.  The only concern Brisset has about ongoing use is the safety factor of having all that wireless tech strapped to your forehead.

[via Hack a Day]

Tele Scouter relies on both a local wearable computing device and a remote server, with primary interaction being done via an eyepiece.  That eyepiece is controlled via eye movements using retinal scanning, and has a front-mounted camera and microphone; all the portable computer is needed for is running the local hardware, with the heavy processing being done remotely on the server.

NEC envisage the head-up display being used to show engineers and on- and off-site technicians user guides and manuals while installing or repairing hardware.  The setup would also allow a single expert to deliver advice to numerous on-site personnel, while recordings of the repairs could be made via the eyepiece’s optics.  NEC expect the system to begin shipping in 2010, though it won’t be cheap: they’re estimating around 750 million yen ($8.16m) for sufficient equipment for thirty members of staff.  Still, in three years time they’re aiming to have sold 1,000 such systems.

More information at the project site here.

In the box, as you can see from our unboxing video below, Q-London provide the headset itself, a rubber light-shield and alternative nose-pad, an in-line control box and the Nokia-type rechargeable battery that powers it, and an IR remote control.  There’s also a cluster of adapter cables, supporting standard composite input and the type of 3.5mm A/V you see on some cellphones and gaming devices.  Finally, a USB charging cable and printed user guide round out the well-packaged set; if you want iPod/iPhone compatibility you’ll need your own adapter.

Compared to the Vuzix system we reviewed several months back, we prefer the rechargeable battery used by Q-London.  The company themselves don’t quote specific usage times, but we found a full charge was good for a film or two, depending on brightness settings.  The remote control is an interesting idea – allowing tweaking of 2D/3D viewing, PAL/NTSC/SECAM video formats, contrast/brightness and other settings – but given there’s no tactile difference between the buttons you’ll still have to peer outside the Eyewear’s viewfinder to make sure you’re hitting the right key. 

In terms of comfort, the headset is relatively lightweight at 59g, though the bendy rubber arms grip the sides of your head more tightly than we liked.  Being able to quickly unplug the standard headphones and use your own (plugging straight into the in-line control box) is a neat touch, and something we’d recommend you do as the supplied earphones are nothing special.  The rubber light-shield fits easily into place and does a decent job of cutting out extra light, though it does make looking outside the Eyewear to see the remote a little trickier.  Despite Q-London’s suggestion that the setup has a “trendy design”, you’ll still stand out when wearing it and it’s not necessarily a “good look”.

Aesthetics aside, our biggest complaint about the 3D 80-inch Eyewear is the absence of eye focus adjustment.  The Vuzix set had two small wheels that could be used to individually adjust the focus of each eye-display; with the Q-London system you’re stuck using the standard settings.  This is particularly frustrating if you wear glasses, since with the Vuzix you could fudge a passable setup to avoid wearing your spectacles.  No such luck with Q-London, and the combined weight and bulk of spectacles, light-shield and Eyewear make it an uncomfortable prospect for anything but the shortest viewing session, or headache-inspiring if you attempt a film without your specs.

That’s a real shame, as the 640 x 480 920k-pixel LCD displays Q-London have used easily beat the Vuzix OLED panels for resolution and picture quality.  We’re always dubious of “like an 80-inch set from 2m away” claims, but the Q-London Eyewear is certainly pleasant to watch and offers enough detail to make subtitles and on-screen text crisp.  Unfortunately no VGA adapter cable was supplied, but we expect the Q-London system could make for an interesting head-up display from a netbook or notebook.  With the right source you can also use the Eyewear as a 3D headset, something we were unable to try.

Other minor niggles include a bizarre choice of female A/V plugs on the composite adapter, which are unlikely to fit the outputs of most DVD players or other sources without an intermediary cable, and Q-London’s decision not to include a mains charger in the box.  If you’re out and about with just your portable DVD player, cellphone or iPod, you’re unlikely to have a spare USB port to recharge the Eyewear with.

That said, for those with decent eyesight and wanting reasonable resolution, we’d recommend the Q-London 3D 80-inch Video Eyewear over the Vuzix iWear AV230XL.  The extra pixels on offer do make a difference to viewing enjoyment, especially when it comes to text, though you pay more for the privilege.  In the UK the Q-London set are priced at £199.99 ($310 for US buyers), compared to around £130/$200 for the Vuzix system.  For the money, we can’t help thinking that an AC adapter and iPod/iPhone cables really should be included.

Q-London 3D 80″ Video Eyewear unboxing:

Basically, the photodiodes each fit into a 12.4 micrometer gap between the 38.7 micometer OLED pixels.  That allows the panel to both display information and capture an image of whatever is looking at it.

Peak luminance of the panel is less than 11,000 cd/m2, while it’s rated at 500 cd/m2 brightness.  It measures 19.3 x 17 mm.

The hope is to be able to create a wearable display, such as the one shown in the concept photo below, that could both display graphics and be controlled by eye movement.  Fraunhofer’s OLED panel could be hidden in the hinge of the eyeglasses, and the same prism that funnel its image through the lens and to the eye would also be responsible for bringing movement back to the sensor.  No word on when we might expect to see commercial viability for the bi-directional AMOLED.

Video demo after the cut

Meanwhile control over the heads-up environment is via a six-axis Hillcrest Labs position tracker, allowing straightforward zooming and navigation with “nearly pixel-for-pixel accuracy”.  Video could either be prerecorded content – Kopin say it could happily play back 480p 720 x 480 30fps media – or web browsing and the like, with WiFi a future addition.

Under the hood there’s a Cortex-A8 TI OMAP3530 SoC running at 600MHz, plus a mini-USB port and microSD card slot.  Runtime is in excess of 8hrs from the 1200mAh battery.  Almost as unbelievable is Kopin’s launch predictions: they claim to be putting Golden-i prototypes into test environments soon, with mass production expected to start in 2010.  No word on pricing, however.  As an aside, I’m loving comedy-constipated render number three in the gallery below.

[via HTBM and via Linux Devices]

According to Vuzix, the company has recently increased the Av310 production due to unexpected higher market demands, and the AV310 is the not only the first-ever widescreen personal eyewear, but also loaded with “state-of-the-art technology at a price point far below anything our competition has to offer”.

But does this thing really work? Skeptical, it is? Make you wonder how a dual 428 x 240 LCDs could project up to a 52-inch as good as a real TV. We did like it better than restrained entertainment on a PMP or cellphone display. When you get yours, let us know what’s you thought? It’s shipping now at $250, and should be available from Brookstone, SkyMall, MicroCenter, Hammacher Schlemmer and Vuzix.com.

Compatible devices include:

• All iPod models
• Portable media players
• Video cameras
• Cellular phones with video output
• Gaming consoles
• Digital cameras
• DVD players

The AV310’s high quality features include:

• Virtual 52’ screen viewed from 9-feet
• Full 16:9 Widescreen Aspect Ratio
• Independent +2 to -5 diopter focus, providing individual adjustment for each eye
• Twin high-resolution LCD displays
• “Vuzix’ 3D” watermark compliant
• Removable and comfort fit earbuds
• Adjustable, hypoallergenic nosepiece
• AccuTilt™ viewer with 15 degrees of tilt adjustment
• Up to 5 hours of battery life on one AA battery
• On screen display settings control
• For use with or without eyeglasses
• MSRP $249.95

The German Optic specialist claimed its Cinemizer is the only video simulated eyewear tested to generate a real movie feeling. The displays are sharply focused and can be perfectly tailored to the wearer with adjustable eyepieces, diopter and replaceable nose pads.

As for video size, the Cinemizer can simulate up to 45-inch diagonal screen at a distance of 78-inch from a compatible Ipod and mobile devices. As a limited release with 500 of the extravagant models made available, and comparable to the limited edition of the Rolex Submariner from Dr. No; we don’t expect it to be affordable. But the manufacturer said unlike the Rolex, the gold Cinemizer is relatively inexpensive, only cost you 369 euros ($480) at selected dealers. If gold is not your thing, it’s always a silver and black finish.

The futuristic goggles draws the power from mobile phone or its own rechargeable battery lasts up to four hour of playing time. It’s compatible with Nokia N96, N95 and Iphone. It has an ear-slider, an adjustable earphones and comes with interchange nose pad to fit different head shape. The Ipod model has matching holder to fit models from Classic, Nano to ITouch releases in the last 12 months. Pricing and availability are not disclosed but it’s currently on display at Photokina.

Video shows an Ipod model Cinemizer in demo and I don’t think you need to understand German to get the instruction and information out of the video.

[via dcviews]