Laster Technologies, a French company that specializes in "mobile informative eyewear," is raising money via a Kickstarter campaign to roll-out its new SeeThru smart glasses. SeeThru differs from many other smart glasses by shunning a camera in a bid to protect the privacy of those around the user.
The company positions SeeThru as "wireless augmented reality eyewear." According to Laster, the device uses the processing power of the user’s smartphone, to which it connects via Bluetooth. Images and information are then relayed to SeeThru’s lens.
SeeThru can be used to take calls, listen to music and display e-mails, text messages, contact data and other text. In addition to this standard functionality, Laster is developing a number of apps for use in a variety of activities.
Satellite navigation and hands-free apps will be available and so too will apps for more specific uses. A sailing instrumentation app will allow users to track boat speed, wind speed and direction, a head-up display app for flying will allow pilots to monitor airplane instrumentation, and an app for para-gliders will display flight information such as air speed, ground speed and acceleration.
Laster claims that the SeeThru offers the best image quality on the market and a vision field that is 2-3x larger than that of Google Glass. Resolution is 800 x 600 pixels and the aspect ratio can be set to 4:3 or 16:9. As most of the processing power is done by the user’s phone, SeeThru will reportedly last for 6 to 8 hours on a single charge, plus production costs are minimized.
SeeThru features three gyroscope sensors, accelerometers and compasses, GPS tracking, head tracking and built-in audio.
Laster is not alone in the smart glass market, with releases or updates announced from a variety of companies in the last couple of weeks alone, including Epson, Vuzix and Pivothead. The company itself was established in 2005 and claims to have pioneered much of the glass technology used in similar devices.
You can find our more about SeeThru in the video below.
Sources: Laster, Kickstarter
