MWC 2016: Epson Shows Off Super-Light Smart Glasses

Epson says its new lightweight Moverio BT-300 smart glasses can benefit a range of industries as it seeks to strengthen its foothold in the wearables market.

The company has been working in the smart glasses market since 2011, but is better known for manufacturing printers and projectors.

The Moverio BT-300 is Epson’s fifth generation of smart glasses, and improves on its predecessors.

High-specs

Featuring a slimmer and lighter build, the device comes with a 5MP high-resolution front camera, and a full colour 720p Si-OLED display which Epson says makes it perfect for Augmented Reality apps.

It’s powered by a quad-core Intel Atom mobile processor and will run Android 5.1 Lollipop, both of which help to give the Moverio BT-300 a battery life of up to six hours.

“Moverio is distinct from other smart glasses on the market where form often supersedes function, to the detriment of the product’s usability,” said Atsunari Tsuda, general manager responsible for Moverio.

“Every design decision we make is driven by consideration for the product’s ultimate usage scenarios and our Si-OLED technology opens a new world for us in binocular see-though smart eyewear development.

“With OLED we can 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.”

Epson says the medical, retail and heavy industry sectors could all benefit from using smart glasses, but it is also targeting educational and cultural institutions – especially museums, schools and art galleries. The company currently works with around 300 companies to develop and create new use cases for its devices.

Although only a concept for now, Epson says the Moverio BT-300 will be available from October 2016, costing around €800 (£626).

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