The future is so bright we gotta wear smart shades. 😎
In the world of fashion, one of the most important choices one needs to make is deciding which accessories to wear. Well, what would pair better with your smart fabric than smart glasses?
Très geek chic.
What are Smart Glasses?
Besides really making that outfit really pop, smart glasses deliver the wearer immediate access to information and functionalities like the terminator walking into a bar. There are different types of smart glasses that offer a range of features, functionalities, and benefits. The overall goal for any pair is to simplify the task at hand. The range of these tasks can vary from an AR enhancement on the manufacturing floor, communicating a bird’s eye view of a manual task for support or simply taking better photos for social media. As this technology improves, the possible applications are truly world changing.
Dozens of Technologies Resting on your Nose
One way to think of smart glasses is to consider them as cellphones for your face. This means they will have integrated cameras, sensors, speakers, microphones, GPS, gyroscopes and more. It is no secret that devices are getting smaller, but the limitations within two arms of a pair of glasses is significant. Some are voice activated and others have additional buttons for use. In the future, it is anticipated that smart glasses will react to the wearer’s movements. To do all this while keeping them stylish enough to wear in public is impressive enough on its own.
Smart Glasses Explained
There are different glasses for different purposes. Some are worn everyday just to improve the general quality of life, like listening to music without pods (and look really cool). Others are worn for practical purposes to either simplify a job or improve the output quality (these look less cool). In both cases the ultimate goal that the wearer is trying to achieve is done faster, and with more data behind it. Today, these are the types of smart glasses available:
Monocular:
Monocular smart glasses have an optical module fastened to one lens. This results in the projection of data within the wearer’s eyeline, but out of the way of what they need to look at. These are commonly used for specific tasks, allowing technicians to access additional information while working hands-free. A step-by-step instruction manual is an excellent use for these glasses, which are often designed to be rugged and durable for manufacturing environments.
Binocular:
You guess it. Binocular smart glasses have an optical module fastened to each lens, giving the user stereoscopic vision. Basically, the glasses can project a full screen in front of your eyes. Why not just look at a movie screen? Well, how about adding subtitles in a movie theater for the hard of hearing, or translation when speaking to someone in another language.
Audio Augmented:
As the name implies, Audio Augmented glasses focus on audio only, creating an immersive experience through sound. Whether it is amplifying the sounds around you IRL (in real life) or adding a soundtrack to your day-to-day, these are meant to make life just a little brighter. Fun fact: it is much better for the ears to take in sound just off the ear (through the branches of the glasses), than the direct contact of traditional headphones or earbuds.
Immersive or Mixed Reality:
Warning: Do not operate heavy machinery while wearing mixed reality glasses. They deliver an immersive experience that fully factors in the environment while adding virtual components. Imagine being an interior designer standing in an empty room. Instead of imagining the ideal result, these glasses will build it, down to the wall-mounted TV and flower vase.
Alternately in tech, imagine collaborating with colleagues around the world by working with a connected hologram in real time. Now, in medicine, imagine if that hologram represented a real patient and a top surgeon could support his team from anywhere in the world. Another example is to think about the potential applications for the military. Imagine the test scenarios that could be built and executed, without putting a single person at risk.
Everyone can stay focused on point with features like hand & eye tracking, built-in voice commands, spatial mapping, and a large field of view. There are different ways immersive reality is achieved. Some smart glasses place a screen at a fixed distance from the eye, others project the image directly into the person’s eyes. While this sounds very scary, it is very safe and enlarges the field of view even further.
Smart Glasses: Achieving Perfect Quality
In consumer electronics, the challenge of better test is real. Devices are getting smaller and smaller but as explained, they require more features. This applies to phones, tablets, medical wearables, drones, and glasses are no different. These devices all leverage quality cameras, RF, connectivity, customized PCBs, speakers, batteries, and more. This is why manufacturers often outsource test to a reliable partner. It is rare that all these specialties are found under one roof, and it can put a strain on product development and time utilization. This is particularly true when dealing with smaller devices that require innovative mechanical engineering magic. By transferring test over to specialists, smart glasses manufacturers are seeing clearer than ever.
For questions on developing a preventative maintenance plan for your test assets, please contact Averna.
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