Epson joins race for wearable computing

EPSON, best known for its printers and projectors, is pushing a pair of its own glasses, dubbed the Moverio BT-200.

GOOGLE isn’t the only company trying to convince you that wearing a computer on your face is a good idea. Epson, best known for its printers and projectors, is pushing a pair of its own glasses, dubbed the Moverio BT-200.

Though lightweight and comfortable, the glasses are far from stylish. While the Google Glass has only one small screen in the upper right corner of your field of vision, Moverio projects images on to its two lenses so that the user sees an unavoidable (and potentially 3D) image. Epson says the glasses are the visual equivalent of having an 80-inch TV strapped to your head.

As such, most of the demo apps focused on augmented ­reality, an area that Google Glass has purposefully avoided so far. I tried an app that recognised a picture of a computer, then gave me step-by-step instructions on how to disassemble it. Another app, built for supermarket employees, recognised items on a shelf and told me which products I should stock next.

Still, we found that this isn’t the sort of thing you’ll want to wear while walking down the street — or even watching a baseball game, like with Glass.

For one thing, Moverio requires the use of a handheld touchpad to operate — running your thumb along the touchpad controls a mouse cursor you see on the display sitting directly in front of your eyes. Moverio runs on Google’s Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which made its debut in 2011. Other features include motion sensors built into the headset, Bluetooth connectivity, interchangeable lenses and a front-facing camera.

While Google is positioning Glass as an consumer product, Epson envisions Moverio primarily as a workplace device.

The Wall Street Journal