After rumours of Google planning a pair of digital glasses for release late this year, we've been treated to an early surprise from none other than Epson, the company best known for producing printers.
Epson's Moverio BT-100 glasses platform runs Android 2.2, and features a see-through display, Wi-Fi and Dolby Digital Surround. The interface resembles the dull stock solution with a 3D rotation animation for navigating between individual icons. The superior Android 4.0 was probably left out due to memory constraints.
Moverio is currently aimed at developers to kick start apps suitable for the unique controls and usage scenarios offered by the glasses. The BT-100 relies on navigation through a trackpad unit attached to the glasses via wire. This trackpad unit also contains standard Android back, home and menu buttons, a directional pad, and 3D switching mode - yes, you can watch 3D content on these glasses, in qHD resolution.
Before you get too excited, keep in mind that there's only 1GB of internal memory to store media, with an extra 4GB SD card on the trackpad controller. On the bright side, Epson claims almost 6 hours of continuous video playback.
The only thing less appealing than the look of these glasses is the price. They're currently going for $699US. I think we can safely say that developers will take a pass this time around. Who knows, Google might just hand out free units at Google I/O.
If you think you're interested, here's two promotional videos to feast your eyes on. If you can tolerate the retro "technology of the future" feel, and equally cheesy voiceover, that is.
