What would the world look like without its maker community? While the giants in the tech industry are experimenting with AR and VR technology, one enthusiast already has a working prototype of their vision of an AR future.
Miroslav Kotalik showed off his latest creation --a pair of AR glasses powered with a Raspberry Pi on Twitter (via Tom's Hardware). What's really impressive here is the dedication to the "build-it-from-scratch" ethos, as while the frames are 3D printed--as you might expect from a maker community build--Kotalik has gone one step further and figured out a way to cast the lenses from scratch, too.
The project, called Zero, began with a series tests using telescope lenses. Kotalik, after figuring out the projection system, experimented with 3D-printing for the lenses. However, he quickly realized that the results were less than ideal due to the air gaps. Kotalik then switched to casting, creating 3D-printed moulds which were filled with clear resin, cured, sanded, and polished to produce a usable lens.
Two tiny SPI displays are then placed in front of the housing and a driver is created to allow for low-latency, 60 fps images to be reproduced through the Raspberry Pi. The frame was 3D printed with the majority of components pushed to the side of the glasses.
A backend was created to integrate sensors and run apps. Kotalik claims that building apps for the system was "super easy" and only required writing them as HTML, CSS or JavaScript pages and putting them into the correct folder.
The final product looks like a cross between a pair of fashionable hipster glasses and a Bladerunner goggle set-up. Kotalik is happy with the end results, but admits the prototype "is obviously very far from a device for consumers" and has big plans in the future.
The goggles are equipped with a camera, GPS and a sim card, which adds a range of additional functionality. The idea is to create something much smaller, more portable, and more usable than other products in the works by companies like Meta. Meta showed off its own AI powered "neural AI glass" earlier this year.
Kotalik also created a video of him wearing the glasses out in public. The video includes some blurry footage to show how they look for the wearer.
The glasses are so well integrated into the overall look that you wouldn't even notice if someone was wearing them in the street.
It's difficult to capture the AR effect on a traditional camera -. As a prototype, it's a good demonstration of the direction Kotalik is taking.
I'd prefer to wear these than the Meta products, which look uncomfortably similar to the kind of thing Michael Caine used to attach to his face back in the 1970s. I say more power to your elbow. This project is a brilliant example maker ingenuity taking on the cutting edge of tech and producing useful results.
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