Osterhout Design Group (ODG) for the previous six years has been developing heavy-duty smart glasses that are used in the military. However, after the company saw the attention that was directed toward gadgets such as the Google Glass, ODG is now entering the consumer market with its own version of augmented reality smart glasses.
ODG is planning to release the smart glasses for a price of less than $1,000 within the year, which will include all the features found in the company's military grade R-6 family of smart glasses.
The smart glasses are capable of displaying high-definition video, recording video, and laying visuals over the real world. However, the consumer version will be smaller by 30 percent and lighter by 20 percent, and will look less awkward than the military version of the device.
"Our Smart Glasses are proving their worth in some of the world's toughest environments and we look forward to bringing our innovative technology closer to everyday consumers," ODG founder and CEO Ralph Osterhout said.
The latest version of ODG's smart glasses, which was released in 2014, are more rugged and bulkier for military usage, and comes with a price tag of $5,000 each. This would be well beyond the budget of most consumers.
The augmented reality smart glasses of ODG is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, and includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a global navigation satellite system. The device also has sensors that determine where the wearer is looking.
The operating system for the device is a modified version of the Android OS, allowing the device to run any app designed for Android. Battery life depends on the usage of the device, ranging from a couple of hours to almost an entire day from a single full charge.
According to Nima Shams, vice president of ODG, the company's smart glasses falls somewhere between the Google Glass and the Oculus Rift, combining how Google Glass keeps users within the realm of reality with the immersive experience of the Oculus Rift.
The company will soon release a developer kit for the smart glasses, with ODG expecting the developer community to gain interest in building software for the augmented reality device. ODG, however, already has experience in app development for the device, with one of the company's first apps being facial recognition software used by the military to spot persons of interest within a crowd.
ODG will be featuring their augmented reality smart glasses in their booth at the Augmented Reality Pavilion of CES 2015.
