We wrote a couple of weeks ago about Epson’s Moverio smartglass platform. Epson formally showed it at CES, and it’s pretty much what had leaked.
The choice of demo partners listed in the press release is revealing, though. On the consumer side, they showed a few fighting games and first-person shooters, but also Scope AR, an augmented reality application that promises to guide people through unfamiliar tasks. The one they chose the demo shows you how to set up a 5.1 AV system. (Well, it is CES, after all.) Epson also showed a few enterprise partners, including an augmented reality app showing air conditioner repair based on the Metaio platform, and the Evena Medical application we wrote about a couple of weeks ago, which helps emergency medics quickly find veins.
Epson also showed the Pulsense activity tracker. As its name implies, the Pulsense keeps continuous track of heart rate using technology that sounds a great deal like what’s used in fingertip pulse oximeters, only wrist-based (presumably on the inside of your wrist); its accelerometer does the same for physical activity. There are two models, with or without a watch. Although the company’s press release says the device can be connected to a smartphone, it doesn’t say specifically that there’s an Epson app of fitness ecosystem; the implication is that any application would be developed by a third party.
The Moverio will ship in March for $699, with early availability of limited quantities through prelaunch.com. The Pulsenses will cost $129 (without a watch) and $199 (with a watch) this summer, with similar early availability through prelaunch.com.
[youtube http://youtu.be/b8RxlzRkt_o]
