Epson has officially unveiled the third generation of its Moveria smart glasses, the BT-300.
The BT-300 features a silicon-based OLED digital display technology and is powered by a quad core Intel Atom X5 processor and Android 5.1.
Epson say the new smartglasses are the ideal product across a number of use-cases, from flying drones, aerial photography and videography, medical surgery, VR learning, AR learning, emergency services response and rescue operations.
The company also claims that the Moverio BT-300 are also the lightest binocular see-though smartglasses announced to date.
Epson Australia General Manager of Sales & Marketing for its Consumer Division Bruce Bealby says that “The Epson Moverio BT-300 are the first real smartglasses to have truly made it into the mainstream with their wide variety of uses and apps in the consumer, government and commercial worlds. They represent a major leap forward in mobile AR smart eyewear with their comfortable, lightweight form factor and powerful display engine. The transition from LCD backlit projection to Si-OLED enables higher contrast levels, a wider colour gamut and true display transparency which makes it game-changing technology.”
Smartglasses lost a lot of their early hype following the failure of Google Glass. However, the recent popularity of low-tech smart glasses like Snap’s Spectacles suggests that the optical wearable still has some life left in it.
According to Bealby, “The BT-300 marks a major advance in technology and performance for the Moverio platform. By using Si-OLED we take advantage of reductions in power usage and weight, and improvements in response times, HD resolution, brightness and contrast. By choosing silicon rather than glass for our base wafer we achieve an even more precise pixel display.”
“Moverio also has several truly unique benefits, for example being the only smartglasses you can legally fly drones with in Australia as they offer pilots crystal clear, transparent first person views from the drone camera while simultaneously maintaining their line of sight with their aircraft. This makes flying and filming safer and helps users stay in compliance with local and national aviation regulations.”
Essentially, the sell here boils down to gains in price-point and the promise that it’s now supported widely enough that it can integrate with and enhance all your other smart-gadget experiences.
Coming in at a price-point of an RRP of $1199, the Epson BT-300 will be available directly through Epson Australia from today.
