Someone once said, “Where there’s a Will Powell, there’s a cheap version of the Project Glass headset,” and boy was Someone right. Programmer and IT director Will Powell claims to have built a rough copy of the augmented reality headset. Powell’s device uses a pair of Vuzix eyewear, which are basically wearable monitors, along with HD webcams, a headset, and a custom Adobe AIR program that he wrote. He used Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking program for the voice recognition and Yahoo! weather services for the weather info.

A significant number of comments on the video are chastising Powell, using enlightening, well-constructed arguments like “fake fake fake” and “Why would you share with everyone a picture of a magazine?” While those are pretty convincing points, I think I’ll wait for Powell to back up his demo video with a more technical details. I’m sure he’ll do it, because he wants to win the approval of anonymous lay people.

[Will Powell via Make:]

Again, the picture above is just a mock-up of the headset, but if you’ve seen other augmented reality projects you can extrapolate what Google wants to do. The video below reveals the specifics – a heads-up display that overlays graphics over the user’s line of sight. It has location, communication, scheduling and note-taking apps, all of which are mostly activated via voice commands. It also has limited visual recognition, but mostly we’ll be talking to ourselves a whole lot.

Pretty neat, but again, it’s easy to see how weird or annoying it will be when this kind of technology goes mainstream. Voice control is nice, but imagine a world where everyone around you is using the same system and the same commands, mumbling to themselves, not to mention our eyes focused on something that’s not really there. I highly suggest we set up Project Mind Control first.

[Project Glass via Lifehacker]

Apparently, quite a number of people share the same problem because there’s now a project up on Kickstarter for Flipcase, which is a space-saving collapsible sunglass case.

All you have to do is pop off the sides of the Flipcase and fold it flat to store it when you’re wearing your sunglasses or when you’re not going to use the case.

The Flipcase collapses to just 0.25 inches thick, so you can just slip it in your bag or briefcase and forget all about it.

A minimum pledge of $22 will let you get your hands on one of these Flipcases in either black or white. You can check out their Kickstarter page for more information or to back the project.

These goofy-looking goggles let you view the world upside-down. Each lens in the Reversing Goggles has a prism mounted on the end, creating a flipped view of the world in front of you. I guess the idea behind these things is to show you what images would look like if our brains didn’t figure out the backwards and upside-down images that actually fall on our retinas. They can also reverse left and right by turning the prisms 90 degrees.

Apparently, a scientist back in the 1890s attempted to wear a similar contraption for 4 days straight, and figured out that his brain eventually compensated for things and sorted the world out once again. I don’t recommend that you try the same. And no matter how much you’re tempted, don’t try and wear these while driving, skateboarding or riding a bike. But if you want to see what it might be like to do an all-day handstand, you can grab a pair of the Reversing Goggles over at Grand Illusions for £55 (~$87 USD).

This unique “heads-up” display offers color-coded LEDs help you keep track of your heart rate and pace without looking down at a watch or other electronic gadget. The gadget clips onto pretty much any pair of sunglasses, and tucks in neatly along the arm between your ear and lens. Sportiiiis communicates wirelessly with ANT+ compatible devices such as a wrist-worn heart-rate monitor or bike cadence sensor, and provides quick visual feedback, and alert you when you drift outside of your targets.

For instance, a green light in the middle indicates you’re right at the perfect heart rate, while amber or red LEDs to the edges tell you if you’re too high or too low from your ideal heart rate or running pace. Special software for Mac, PC or smartphones will allow you to set up workout profiles for your Sportiiiis to monitor. A small tap on the side of the device will also provide an audible heart-rate cue, and double-tapping lets you flip between multiple paired sensors.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sportiiiis should be available some time later in November, and will retail for $199 (USD). Sunglasses and remote sensors not included, though.

[via Gizmag via Crave]

The licensing of the tech will allow Vuzix to work on glasses with see-through waveguide optics for its near-eye display systems. The glasses will use the Nokia EPE optics tech and will being new products to market.

Vuzix has some big goals in mind and is talking up the ability to make glasses that “Hollywood and Sci-Fi writers have only been able to imagine.” It would be cool if the glasses had screens you can see through when you don’t want to watch video and when you did the images could be played right on the lenses without sacrificing quality.

[Press Release]

The Wrap 1200 3D glasses look and weigh about the same as regular sunglasses, but let users hang a virtual 75″ 3D display right in front of their eyes. While it does 3D, it can also play your old school 2D videos without a problem too. They can be hooked up to video game consoles, video players, computers, etc.

The Wrap 1200 glasses are available now for $499.99 at the Vuzix online store.

[via Ubergizmo]

That’s why I think these J!INS Moisture Glasses are a godsend.

They’re especially useful to people (like you and me, probably) who spend loads of hours in front of the computer. These J!NS glasses will not only give you a brighter appearance because of their shocking pink color, but it will freshen up your eyes and keep them moisturized because of the special moisture reservoir attachment near the left lens.

Just fill up the reservoir with your eye drops or with purified water, snap it back into the slot, and forget about having dry eyes for the next two hours or so.

The J!NS Moisture Glasses should be available in Japan by the end of October for ¥3,990 (~$50.)

[via Oh Gizmo! via Akihabara News]

The glasses have a small camera in them that reads the face of the other person and looks at 24 different feature points. The points are then fed into a database to determine what the person is thinking or feeling between six states including thinking, agreeing, concentrating, interested, confused, and disagreeing.

The software portion was developed by Rana el Kaliouby. The pair claims that the average person could determine what a real person was thinking by looking at facial expressions 54% of the time and the glasses got it right 64% of the time.

[via CNET]

As a response to today’s quick-to-dispose society, Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves have come up with a stylish and innovative collection of glasses and spectacles that are made from… human hair.

Designers Murakami and Groves, who are both graduates from the Royal College of Art, collaborated to come up with this collection of fashion-forward eyewear that is 100% biodegradable and 101% wearable.

I’m not sure how a lot of people would feel, wearing someone’s hair on their spectacles, but these are actually bound together and coated with resin for good measure so it won’t even feel like you’re wearing hair, at least.

The collection is currently being displayed in London as part of the graduate exhibition of the Royal College of Arts until July 3. If you’re in the area, drop by to catch a glimpse of these hair-ific creations!

[via Gizmodo via Dvice]

The glasses have slightly red and blue lenses like the old-fashioned 3D glasses we had when I was a kid. The glasses work in conjunction with the TriOviz Games SDK to allow the developer to program in 3D effects that can be seen on a 2D TV. Naturally, the catch is that the game has to use the SDK. So far the only two games being offered are versions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Enslaved, as well as a single 3D movie, Battle for Terra.

There have been a number of games come to market over the years that had red and blue lens 3D glasses and sought to make 3D effects on a normal TV. None of them every worked particularly well and I suspect the TriOviz will fall into the same category. Who knows though, what do you think?

[via Coolest-Gadgets]

Kine and Einy Paulsen are behind this brand and their glasses are supposed to be both functional and fashionable at the same time, especially if you don’t like those dweeby 3D glasses in theaters. These glasses are compatible with most 3D theaters in the world, as well as the latest passive-lens 3DTVs from LG, Vizio, Toshiba, and JVC, so they’ll get some use at home too.

These glasses sell for $29.50 on the Ingri:Dahl website. Not bad for a pair of 3D glasses that don’t look like 3D glasses.

[via Ubergizmo]

Unlike other glasses of this kind, the STAR 1200 has transparent heads-up displays so that you can view the “real world” as usual, but when something from augmented reality appears, it’s overlayed onto your vision.

The glasses themselves contain motion sensors to track head movements too. Vuzix previous AR glasses used cameras mounted on their lenses for their augmented reality glasses, but the see-through displays are likely to offer a major improvement in usability.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

From what I can see from the demo and the images, the idea is pretty awesome. Now, all that’s needed is for enough decent augmented reality content to be generated, and we can kind of have our own Matrix. Vuzix expects to launch the STAR 1200 glasses this August.

[via CrunchGear]

The retail price for these glasses is $99 and since they are wired, they don’t need a battery. The wire hangs down on the left size and the glasses come with a 10-foot USB cord, to ensure that it reaches your desktop. Active-shutter 3D glasses are still quite expensive, which is why NVIDIA released this wired version to keep costs down.

These glasses are lighter and cheaper than usual 3D glasses. Cheaper is a strong word, as you can find the NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses for around $94 on the web, so it’s fair to say that the wired version will have to be significantly cheaper to be worth the while. They will be available in late June. Honestly, I don’t think the 3D fad will continue for long. In fact, news outlets are already reporting that the 3D market is fizzling out.

[via Ubergizmo]

Truth or fantasy, we’ll never know, but these specs will allow you to look stylish while you’re spying. Although they’re not exactly inconspicuous.

They’ve got 4GB of internal storage, which allows you to store up to one hour of continuous video in high resolution (1,280×720, 30fps). On top of that, they also have a built-in microphone. A handy USB port allows you to download all of your missions.

Given the bad Photoshop job below, I’m sure that Anna Chapman had nothing to do with the making of these. But you’ll still make Q proud if you wear these stylish spy glasses. They’re available over at Chinavasion for about $114 (USD).

(Cheesy image below slightly NSFW…)

[via GeekAlerts]

None of the glasses will work with other TVs either, the manufacturers all use differing tech so that only their glasses will work with their TVs. That means you can’t get cheap third party glasses. This all adds up to few people that are willing to stomach the cost and douchebaggery that is killing the 3D TV industry. The CEA is trying to fix this for us though and I hope they succeed. The CEA is trying to standardize active 3D glasses.

If they were able to do this, it would mean that any brand of glasses would work any TV. It would also mean that we could buy third-party glasses as well. CEA is inviting companies to propose standards for the formal Active Eyewear Standards RFP and return it by March 31. I hope someone submits a good standard that doesn’t cost a fortune to implement.

[via Electronista]

Vizio has finally stepped up and offered a big screen 3D TV with lots of nice features that supports 1080p 3D and needs none of those expensive active 3D glasses to watch. I sort of expected Vizio to be among the first to do this and I was right. The new set is called the 65-inch Theater 3D Razor LED HDTV. The set supports full 1080p resolution and the passive glasses are said to be affordable and cause less eyestrain than active glasses.

The set has a dynamic contrast ratio of 1 million to 1 and has integrated Vizio internet apps. The set also supports SRS Labs sound and has lots of connectivity and other features. The set will hit Costco and Sam’s this month for $3,499 (USD), which is a good deal for a 65-inch 3D TV with these features.

The glasses are TRON:Legacy Film Edition 3D glasses and the special 3D lenses are placed into the Gascan frames that Oakley has been shilling for a long time. The black frames have blue Tron graphics on the side and come with a soft bag/polish cloth that also has Tron graphics.

The glasses will support theaters that use passive glasses and the lenses curve to give the wear a greater field of view. The real upside is that you won’t look so dorky watching the movie and these will be more comfortable too. I wonder if you can wear these as normal glasses outside. I haven’t tried to wear the ones the theater hands out outside the theater. The glasses will cost $150 (USD) and will be offered online and at select Sunglass Hut locations in plenty of time for the movie’s December release.

You might be thinking that these glasses were just a concept, and they didn’t really make any, but you’d be completely wrong. The 5 dpi and 6 dpi models are actually available for pre-order right now and will set you back €185 ($256 USD). The glasses were designed in France and handmade in the USA.

If you are looking for a truly unique pair of glasses, then you’ll find nothing as special as these. You can pre-order yours here.

[via Design Milk via Josh Spear]

If you are a beer drinker or drink soda in bottles made of glass, you probably throw away lots of glass bottles or perhaps you recycle them in those boring plastic bins out front. A dude from Chicago that likes his beer and soda recycles his bottles in a very interesting way. Nick Paul is a glassblower. He takes the empties and turns them into glasses you can keep using.

Apparently, he takes the bottles, heats the glass, and then blows the neck and mouth of the bottle to the size of the bottom making glasses. They are pretty darn cool and I could see these things selling very well if he were to open a store. Oh wait, he does have a store. Plus he gets to drink all the beverages before he makes the glasses.

[via Make:]