Sony has announced pre-order availability for the developer edition of its augmented reality glasses.
The SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 is up for grabs in the UK and Germany for now, but will open up to ten more countries in March.
Sony unveiled the tech last year, detailing how the gadget goggles would superimpose text and images over your vision. That’s in contrast with Google Glass, which would display content in your periphery.
The actual glasses weigh 77g, and come with a host of built-in sensors, including a Sony-built 3-megapixel CMOS image sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, and a light sensor.
It also ships with a wired-up controller that packs a battery, speaker, microphone, NFC chip, and touch-sensitive controls.
The lenses are 3mm thin, and allow 85 per cent of light through, which should mean you’ll have enough visibility to go about day-to-day life with the headset on.
Sony’s AR glasses are pricing at £520 minus taxes, which then works out at £624 with 20 per cent VAT bundled on.
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It’s a bold move for Sony to actually release these relatively oddball specs, especially as Google recently announced it was axing the Glass explorer program.
It’s also a shame the Japanese tech firm hasn’t managed to refine the design just yet, with the smart specs still looking like a cross between swimming goggles and those plasticky 3D glasses doled out at your local cinema.
This is only a developer edition however, so there’s a good chance we’ll see improved aesthetics should the device ever make it to consumer hands proper.