Google isn’t the only company working on wearables, after all. Back in March, eyeline display specialist Lumus confirmed to us that products using its technology were in the pipeline for 2013, with prices ranging from $200 for more basic models – perhaps just offering media playback – through to $500 for more advanced versions with what we’d think of as true augmented reality.

It’s not the only company working on AR projects, either. We caught up with Vuzix this month to take about its own smart glasses intentions, including the display technology it has been working on with Nokia Research. The company wouldn’t talk specific pricing, but did say that it was aiming more for the mass market and that Project Glass “is not the grail we are seeking.”

Of course, there’s a big difference between a developer kit and a commercial product, and there’s no telling exactly what Glass will do quite yet. Google has been playing its cards close to its chest on that front, only really showing camera use-cases, though we’re also expecting some other functionality like navigation. Still, even if Lumus’ estimates were to double by the time products reach shelves, that’s still a fair chunk less than Google is asking.

So, don’t feel too down-heartened if you’re not at Google IO to preorder a Glass Explorer Edition, or can’t muster the $1,500 Sergey Brin demands. Augmented reality and wearable tech is fast approaching its tipping point, and with that will inevitably come more affordable options.

Lumus announced the OE-31 optical engine just before Mobile World Congress last month, but public displays haven’t been forthcoming yet. Like the DK-32, the wearable screen consists of a tiny projector – which would be integrated into the hinge section of your glasses – and a transparent plastic slice through which the picture shines. Built into the plastic is a series of lenses that reflect sections of the projection into the user’s eye.

The end result is a virtual display that floats on top of a view of the world around you, allowing you to see both simultaneously, and seemingly getting bigger the further into the distance you gaze. The OE-31 runs at nHD resolution (640 x 360) but, Lumus tells us, more important than the number of pixels is how cleanly they line up, and the blend of ambient light and projected light, without which the display would be uncomfortable in extended use.

Lumus OE-31 demo:

If the DK-32 system – which has twin lenses and runs at 1280 x 720 – is ideal for video and gaming, then the OE-31 is perfect for augmented reality. It floats a discrete bubble of information for your right eye, and the projector assembly itself can be trimmed down so that, we were told, it could probably fit into our regular glasses. Lumus’ prototype is far bulkier than it needs to be – it’s basically a hurriedly-assembled test mule for demonstrations to potential customers and the press – so expect final products to be considerably more discrete.

Lumus wouldn’t tell us which companies it is in discussions with – it will only supply the displays themselves as an OEM, with form-factor, purpose and price decided by the manufacturers and retailers – but did say that there were “big, recognizable names” on the roster that you wouldn’t need to be an arch-geek to understand. The first commercial devices could be on the market early next year, and although Lumus isn’t responsible for RRPs, it expects entry-level systems to be around $200 or even less, while more advanced models come in at anything up to $500. There’s also the possibility of cellphone-style subsidies from mobile manufacturers using the technology and selling them with carrier contracts.

Does it work? You bet it does. The DK-32 headset is very much like watching a slightly transparent big-screen LCD from six foot or so away, perfect for entertainment and gaming applications: Lumus was running it from the HDMI output of an iPhone 4S, and it proved great for browsing webpages, playing motion-controlled games and reading.

The OE-31 meanwhile is more low-key. It can push out more opaque blocks of content, like its bulkier twin-lens counterpart, but it’s better when the graphics are pared back. Lumus showed us a navigation demo, with simple on-screen arrows that could quietly guide you around the streets without making you look like a hopeless tourist, along with a messaging demo that pops urgent emails up into your line-of sight. With a front-facing camera array doing hand-tracking – just like Google’s rumored AR Glasses project is believed to include – you could navigate the UI with sweeps and gestures. While it takes a little getting used to initially, after a few minutes it felt surprisingly natural – certainly less hassle than pulling your smartphone out of your pocket every few minutes to check new alerts.

There are some remaining questions, of course. The demo units use wired connections, tethered to a prototype OMAP-based driver box with an HDMI input, and indeed Lumus expects some of the commercial implementations to rely on wires between the controller device and the headset. Others, though, will be wireless, though that will demand onboard batteries and an subsequent increase in bulk. Lumus says the general goal is for a wearable that has sufficient battery life for a day’s use, though that’s more likely to be the case with wires than wireless, and will undoubtedly depend on what the glasses are being asked to do.

Perhaps the bigger question is whether developers are ready for the wealth of possibilities the new displays enable. The obvious use – given the increasing performance of smartphones – is to port console-style gaming to a wearable platform, but Lumus pointed out that the 3D-capable nature of the display and the way projected content can seem to blend with the real-world opens all manner of new avenues. For instance, opponents in a first-person shooter could appear to walk toward you through your current environment, appearing to get larger as they approached.

The “killer app” though, Lumus believes, is yet to be created. They point to the rise of the iOS app, unforeseen before the iPhone opened the door to the imagination of developers; a similar thing is predicted for wearables. It’s a segment we’re hugely excited about – despite the potential for embarrassment - and it’s finally reaching the market. This time next year, wearable displays may well be an integral part of your mobile life.

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.

With these glasses you’ll be able to see content including internet with a web browser, movies, TV and video games. What we see here is moving images that can be seen by me with the glasses on and not by anyone else around me as I’m viewing. The actual technology is in the boxes on the outsides of the lenses, one for each temple: OE-32 Optical Engine modules to project 720p resolution in 3D received through HDMI.

What they’re saying here is that what we’re seeing is the equivalent of an 87-inch screen from a distance of 10 feet, essentially no matter what you’re looking at. In reality it’s an image that’s certainly displayed in front of you in a way that’s not headache-inducing, believe it or not. Your demo man here is someone who isn’t a friend of 3D, not in tablets, not on televisions, and certainly not right in the face, but this wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was downright enjoyable to look at, especially since they had corrective lenses in a box to correct for this fellow’s terrible, terrible eyes.