Sony SmartEyeglass SED-E1 Augmented Reality Glasses announced

Sony announced today the Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 augmented reality glasses. Just when Google stopped Google Glass, Sony comes with a similar solution to the market.

Today Sony announced the commercial release of the Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1. The SED-E1 are a transparent lens eyewear that connects with compatible smartphones to superimpose information onto the user’s field of view. Sounds familiar? The Sony SmartEyeglass are similar to Google Glass but look horrible. What is Sony thinking? Yes. This is a developer release and the consumer version is supposed to come in 2016, but Sony is presenting the SmartEyeglass as something consumers would wear in public. Watch the promo video below. 

Google stopped Google Glass because the device hit a nerve with privacy concerns. The Sony SmartEyeglass also incorporate a camera, which raises the same privacy concerns as for Google Glass. 

Putting aside the privacy concerns and the ugly design, the Sony augmented reality glasses spell great promise for use in professional applications like manufacturing or emergency services. 

SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 includes unique holographic waveguide technology, which enables an extremely thin 3.0 mm augmented reality (AR) lenses with high transparency of 85% and excellent brightness, without any half mirrors that /4/obstruct the user’s vision.

Furthermore, the monochrome display ensures low energy consumption and high luminance (up to 1,000 cd/m2). This enables a binocular display, where text and information is clearly visible under a wide range of lighting conditions.

The Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 is equipped with a range of sensor technologies, including a CMOS image sensor (3MP Camera), accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, brightness sensor, and microphone.

The SmartEyeglass uses these features, together with GPS location information obtained from the connected smartphone, to provide the user with information that is tailored for the current task or scenario. Applications will run as normal Android apps on a connected smartphone. SmartEyeglass communicates wirelessly with the smartphone over Bluetooth and wireless LAN.

The Sony SmartEyeglass will be available for sale in ten countries as of March 2015, with pre-order starting today in UK and Germany. Sony also released the official version of the SmartEyeglass SDK available, enabling developers to create unique hands-free use cases. With the release of SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1, and Sony’s support of app developers and partners working with SmartEyeglass, it’s the ambition to release a product for consumer use in 2016.

Sony’s SmartEyeglass Developer Edition will cost JPY 100,000, USD 840, EUR 670 or GBP 520 (excluding taxes), depending on the country of sale. The augmented reality glasses will ship on March 10. For order information visit the Sony SmartEyeglass site.