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Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

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Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#71
post #35

Did anyone see actual demos of this thing in action? Meron came to my computer vision class this spring at CU and didn't have anything to show other than the CGI demo that has been up for over a year. The newer videos are also mostly just renderings and the only working examples that were posted are around 10 seconds long. I wish them the best of luck but it seems to me like they're really overselling themselves.

It seems like a good sign that Steve Mann is involved, even if it's unlikely they'll be willing to make the same compromises that he has historically done in order to get functional tech in exchange for comfort and style.

Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#73
post #15

Look like a great idea and technological advancement, but the biggest thing holding back Google Glass is not that it lacks feature X. Glass will be held back because most people don't want to look like geeks. Meta's next design looks like it's from an 80's Sci-Fi movie. I'm not trying to be an asshole, but there is no way I could take someone seriously wearing those things.

I'm with you, but it's important to keep in mind that the current iteration of Google Glass is the rough equivalent of the old "mobile phones" that looked like plastic brick with a antenna sticking out of them [1] and that Meta's sure seems more like a proof of concept and tech demo than something they would put forward as polished.

These devices are going to keep getting smaller and in a few generations will be fairly indistinguishable from a pair of glasses (which many people wear now).

1 - Seriously, look at this guy: http://vni.s3.amazonaws.com/120802142609275.jpg

Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#76
post #55
post #9

The SDK works only on PC's as per their tech spec. Wonder if it is all C# based or some MS technology.

It's Unity 3D, which if I recall correctly uses C# .NET.

Unity3d also supports javascript and boo (some python variant)

Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#77
post #35

Did anyone see actual demos of this thing in action? Meron came to my computer vision class this spring at CU and didn't have anything to show other than the CGI demo that has been up for over a year. The newer videos are also mostly just renderings and the only working examples that were posted are around 10 seconds long. I wish them the best of luck but it seems to me like they're really overselling themselves.

These guys had a booth at the Epson stage at SIGGRAPH this year. I tried it out from one the engineers. The unit could stand to be a bit lighter, and less dorky but it definitely works. They are very accessible and probably game to demo it if you visit their offices.

Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#78
post #46

> Tracking blank white objects — be it a piece of paper, or a big blank wall — is one of the hardest computer vision challenges around. Most of what I know about computer vision comes from deep learning approaches, but tracking a white object doesn't seem like it should be too difficult. Is tracking a large white object actually "one of the hardest computer vision challenges", or is this just a garbage quote?

Without any texture it's practically impossible to locate and track any feature points on the wall. Most vision algorithms use "corners" (feature points) that can be matched/tracked. A way to get around that is to use an infrared setup like the kinect to project a pattern onto object, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work if both the projector and the object are moving.

No, it works for moving projectors as long as the camera is moving as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSBDY0RuhS4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw4RvwhQ73E

since you could assume that the projector is standing still and everything else is moving, the same should be true for the inverse and all points inbetween.

Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#79
I am not sure such glasses will take off. You have always a fucking HUD before your eyes and I am not sure everybody likes that (I never tried it but I even do not like normal glasses and prefer contact lenses as I feel more free that way).

I would appreciate something like a small beamer a lot more where you can project a UI on a suitable surface (holograms seem to take longer ;) and control it either by a pointing device or gesture control.

Re: Meta (YC S13), The Crazy AR Glasses That Aim To Do What Google Glass Can’t

#80
post #37
post #15

Look like a great idea and technological advancement, but the biggest thing holding back Google Glass is not that it lacks feature X. Glass will be held back because most people don't want to look like geeks. Meta's next design looks like it's from an 80's Sci-Fi movie. I'm not trying to be an asshole, but there is no way I could take someone seriously wearing those things.

Ya know, I'm more or less with you and I am a Google fanboy. The 2 things that Glass will have to overcome: 1)The not-so-fashionable look. I'm sure this'll be corrected in the future. 2) The way people feel about a device that may or may not be recording them at any given moment. Let's not even mention anything about a red light glowing during recording because we know that'll be hacked out. Google Glass will be able…

Google did quite a great job in the aesthetic department (considering the goal and size of the device) but it's still 'invasive'.

ps: It's funny how public react to obvious recording devices when they're surrounded by them.

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