These neat AR glasses project the equivalent of a 200-inch, high-resolution screen a few meters in front of your eyes. They connect to all your mobile devices, laptops, PCs and even games consoles for private, immersive viewing.
Weighing in at 5 oz (142 g), the DreamGlass Air setup offers a 90-degree field of view, a 5-hour battery and 600-pixels-per-inch resolution to deliver sharp images to each eye with a total resolution of 2.5K and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. It connects wirelessly to devices like Apple and Android phones, PCs and laptops, mirroring your screen for relaxed viewing, or adding an extra virtual screen for your computer.
Where you need zero latency, like for use with your Playstation or Xbox, there's also a wired connection. And if you plug them into your phone in a wired setup, you can use the onboard battery to charge your phone as you watch.
Using a reflective multi-layered glass system, the glasses are see-through, so you can tune in to the outside world if necessary. To reduce eye strain, they project the image as if it's 2 m (6.5 ft) away, and the design leaves enough space for your eyeglasses underneath.
DreamGlass Air can track your head movements, too, in three degrees of freedom, meaning you can "pin" things in mid-air and turn your head away from your virtual screen if you want. Or put two screens up, one with a movie going, and another with your email on it, and you can physically glance across at your email whenever you feel like it, or turn back so the movie takes up the whole field of view.
Dreamworld AR, which has just launched the device on Kickstarter, says you can also use these things to achieve augmented-reality FPV when you're flying a drone that sends vision back to your phone handset.
While the wired connections look fiddly, and you're not going to win any fashion contests in a pair of these things, the DreamGlass Air looks to us like a super-accessible entry point to AR – but more importantly, a superior way to veg out in bed or on a plane watching Netflix or gaming, without stressing your eyes as much as a phone can.
Earlybird pledges of US$269 will get you a set for the next three days – although all the usual crowdfunding cautions should apply. Deliveries are expected in December, with a retail price of $489 expected once the early pricing runs dry. We're expecting a review unit soon, and will bring you a review when possible.
Source: Dreamworld AR Kickstarter
