An invention like Google Glass was strange to see out in public, as you didn’t know if the person wearing them was recording you or even checking their e-mail while talking to you. Mini, a car making company, is attempting to make its own version of glasses with augmented reality, specifically designed for driving, (which makes sense).
The Mini Augmented Reality glasses are still a prototype, but the company showed them off at a recent auto show in Shanghai. The glasses overlay your view with digital information and they are able to show you the driving directions, speed limits, and points of interest nearby.
The best part part about these glasses is the X-ray feature. It takes full advantage of the cameras placed on the outer sides of modern vehicles, and by pointing your head to one of the sides of the car, you’ll immediately see a live video of what’s going on outside of your car. That will surely help out with parallel parking or some more complex driving situations.
The glasses feature: street names floating above every intersection, company names hovering next to buildings, the car’s current speed and its speed limit, which is displayed at the bottom. The best thing, which is also subtle, is the appearance of animated arrows that help with directions to your destination.
Qualcomm is co-working with Mini in order to bring visualised technology to life, as the glasses have a Snapdragon 805 processor within them, which means they are as powerful as your smartphone. The augmented reality feature was brought to life by Qualcomm’s platform called Vuforia.
You might notice that the glasses look like the augmented reality specs made by the Osterhout Design Group featured on this site recently. The startup from San Francisco that co-developed the Mini’s glasses. As ODG’s glasses have mostly been used for military purposes but the company is making inroads into placing its products on the consumer market.
Even though some people got the chance to try the glasses out, they noted that there are things to improve, because the giant glasses feel a bit awkward when wor. This is mostly because the processor lies on the top of the glasses’ frame, which is makes them heavy. Also, the processor can heat up quite a bit, making the glasses even more discomforting.
Mini has not released any further information on the glasses’ release date, pricing or indeed their future plans for the prototype. The company obviously wants to give the project some more time for testing in order to avoid the ignonimy of Google Glass.
