Google Glass may be the most well known wearable technology, but the company certainly wasn't the first to bring head mounted displays to the (early adopting) masses. Epson has been trying its hand at head mounted displays for a while now, starting with the BT-100 a couple of years ago.
The good news is that the design has been refined a little. Less clunky than its predecessor, the Moverio BT-200 consists of the glasses and a touch sensitive control box. The system is based on Android, and allows you to watch video, view images and browse the internet on your own personal display.
Under the hood, there’s a 1.2GHz dual core processor and 1 GB of RAM. The controller comes with GPS, but the glasses have a compass, gyroscope and accelerometer too. There’s wifi and bluetooth to connect the device to the internet or your smartphone. To bump up the 8GB of memory on the device, you can add a 32GB microSD card. That leaves plenty of space for video content.
It takes about five hours to fully charge the device when you get it first, so don’t expect to pop it out of the box and run.
The good . . .
You may dismiss the Moverio as just another gimmick, and that may well turn out to be true, but you can see why some people who shell out the money for these. The display is sharp and clear, and although it takes a bit of getting used to, it feels like a large screen display right in front of your eyes.
The potential for the device is more significant. You could use it for everything from watching movies and sharing photographs to augmented reality applications. Directions as you walk? Not a problem, Android can take care of it. The sensors mean that any movement can be translated into in gesture control, which may open up new markets.
And they can be worn by those who already wear the more conventional glasses.
The bad . . .
The first thing you notice about the product is the design, and that’s not always for the right reasons. The design of the glasses, while a vast improvement from the previous version, is still a bit clunky.
The headset itself could do with being a little slimmer; there’s no chance of mistaking these for a pair of regular glasses. There are too many cables to connect, and the device suffers from being tethered to the control panel. It’s all a little bit awkward if you want to move around.
You may scoff at the included ear hook, but look down once wearing the glasses and you’ll see why it’s necessary. The glasses automatically slide forward as soon as you tilt your head. You’ll spend your time trying to reposition them after they make a break for it.
We thought we’d largely left the days of proprietary USB cables behind us.
These days, almost every mobile device (Apple excluded) charges from or carries out data transfers over micro USB cables. Sadly, the Moverio has opted to go backwards, with a proprietary USB connection. Lose this cable at your peril.
Another issue encountered was its stubborn refusal to connect to a home wifi network, claiming poor signal strength. Several other devices, including a laptop, a tablet and two android phones – had no such problems, leading us to lay the blame at the Moverio’s door.
. . . and the rest
The Moverio supports MiraCast, which connects devices together and allows you to stream movies and music between the two. That means any content on your phone can be displayed on the headset – provided your phone supports Miracast of course.
The headset includes two different types of shades – light and dark – so you can improve your viewing experience by blocking out the rest of the world. Highly recommended, so at least you don’t feel obliged to respond to the curious stares.
The Android interface is familiar – it’s Sony’s skin. Be warned: although this device is Android based, it’s limited. There’s no Play Store app – although there is a Moverio Apps icon that will allow you to add more software to your system – and there are no security settings to bypass the lock that prevents you from installing apps from unknown locations, like you could on a tablet or smartphone. In theory, you can run anything a smartphone can, but unless you have access to a third party app store, or know how to sideload the applications, you’ll be stuck with Epson’s choice.
The Verdict
HHH Technology for those who love to be noticed. If you’re in any way self conscious, this may not be the product for you. The truth is that it’s not quite there yet – but it’s closer than it was before.
