Well it seems most every company in the industry is getting on wearable computing in one way or another, with Samsung, Apple, LG and now Sony preparing either a smartwatch or augmented reality glasses.
Sony patented this technology back in summer 2012, but many misunderstood what they were patenting, and it was very early in the buildworks. Now, with Google Glass coming out and showing the future, it seems a little clearer that Sony are preparing augmented reality glasses, but not the same as Google’s.
The patent shown works on both eyes, instead of just one, and we believe the end user interface will be different in design and interaction because of this. Unlike Google Glass, Sony’s design seems bulky but less controversially designed.
There isn’t much to be noted on the patent describing what the user will see, other than a 2D interface. Sony may go for the same SDK Google are making for Glass, or they may build their own. With Sony’s rather lacklustre history for interface design, it may be better to sponge off Google, as they have with Android.
Many have already said augmented reality glasses are not the future and look terrible, but others are prepared to use them if they come at a reasonable price. Being able to take video and photos from your own perspective is a great idea.
It seems the race is on to make the first wearable computer, which not only wipes the stalling phone market away, but bring a brand new market for people to merge into.
We are unsure how the wearable computer will work in peoples lives, if Google Glass only offers voice recognition software to message people, then many may use it the same way they use Pebble smartwatch, by getting the notification then checking their phone if they need to.
