You may not know the name Lumus now, but expect to be hearing a lot from them in the future. When we first met the Lumus rep Ari Grobman two years ago he showed us some amazing technology. It was basically an augmented reality display embedded into a standard lens that could fit into a standard pair of glasses. The 720p model displayed a binocular image at near HD quality right in front of your face, allowing you to watch movies, play games, and even interact with mobile devices on a screen floating in mid-air.
Now the team is showing off the next incarnation of Lumus, adding a full Android computer and camera to create a system that puts Google Glass to shame. The system can handle gestures – you swipe away notifications and even display map data on the ground in front of you. I tried it and it worked perfectly. Imagine a small screen or screens floating in front of your eyes that you can completely control with your gestures. Sadly, the system is almost impossible to video, but rest assured it’s cool.
That said, don’t expect Lumus-branded headsets anytime soon. The company is working with many major manufacturers to get the technology out into the wild but, to a man, each company is waiting to see what the others will do. Wearables company Meta is already using a version of the technology in their upcoming glasses
The company owns over fifty percent of the military heads up display market and now is aiming to become the Intel of wearable screens. Grobman was most excited about creating binocular devices that allow for real “Princess Leia” moments where the video is floating in front of you.
“We have telepresence demos where the system knows you’re looking at a table and will cut off the person’s legs so it doesn’t look like they’re floating over the surface,” he said.
“Our customers can do some cool stuff,” he said. “They’re just not ready yet.”
Grobman described other applications including gaming. He said console makers are exploring the technology to add true hands-free and immersive gameplay to their devices. When can we expect to see Lumus Inside? Grobman can’t say.
As the OEMs get used to the idea that they need to put together a wearable solution, he said, they keep looking to the big guys like Google to move first. He wagers that Glass was Google’s way of getting people used to wearables on the face. The next step, he said, are real, binocular glasses that actually look good on your face. It’s a long road but, Grobman said, we’re getting there.
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