Epson Announces Moverio BT-300 Augmented Reality Glasses, Big Improvements
Perhaps the biggest change is a shift from the LCD-based glass display (at a meager QHD resolution) to a custom silicon OLED projection based panel, which should provide more responsiveness, more brightness (the BT-200 measured 1050cd/m2, the BT-300 1200cd/m2), better contrast (it goes from 230:1 in the BT-200 to 100,000:1 in the BT-300), a wider color gamut (90% NTSC vs the 52% for the BT-200), and more visual precision, as well as more efficient power usage. The resolution is now 720p (or 1280x720).
Gone is the ghosting you normally see in many AR experiences. These are still binocular glasses, with a 23 degree field of view.
The BT-300 uses a quad core Intel Atom X5, running at 1.44GHz, using Android 5.1. ...the controller has also changed. ...it is certainly sleeker and more ergonomic. It has a touchpad on the bottom and a directional pad and a selector at the top. It's truly more of a powerful Android controller than a crippled smartphone.
The front facing camera is now 5MP.
The BT-200 included a GPS and compass in both the headset and controller, a gyroscope and an accelerometer, and all of those are in the BT-300, and improved, we're told. Battery life remains the same (6 hours), and WiFi capabilities are better (the BT-200 supported 802.11b/g/n at 2.4 GHz, and the BT-200 adds 802.11a and 802.11ac and supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). Head tracking performance hasn't changed; the BT-200 polled the gyro at 60fps, and since this isn't VR the head tracking performance doesn't have to be as high, according to Epson.
Epson has worked across industries to build use case partnerships, according to Eric Mizufuka, Epson’s product manager for new ventures. “In addition to pursuing new markets for our technology, we will rapidly scale in areas where we’ve had commercial success, including drone photography, remote support, AR training/maintenance, healthcare, retail, logistics and more.”
The BT-300 will be available later this year and Epson is currently taking pre-orders here. The BT-200 was $700 and the BT-300 will be around the same price.
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