If you thought Google Glass looked bad, Olympus’ augmented-reality specs will make you want to drop dead. The company today announced an awkward, wearable display prototype called Meg 4.0, although it’s nothing like Google’s version.
Weighing in at 30g, the Olympus model has a 320×240 floating screen on the lenses that connects to the wearer’s smartphone or tablet using Bluetooth. Google’s, meanwhile, are meant to be largely self-contained, not dependent on a tether to an existing device.
The Meg 4.0 supposedly boasts eight hours of battery life, though that’s kind of a technicality — Olympus actually expects people to use the glasses in 15-second spurts about every three minutes, which according to someone’s maths, amounts to eight hours total. It also looks kind of like a praying mantis Olympus wants you to wear on your face. The glasses also have an accelerometer, so they can tell which way the person sporting them is facing. But they don’t have a camera, which has been one of the main features Google thus far has used to advertise its nerd shades.
The Olympus Meg 4.0 and Google Glass do have two things in common though: no real release date, and they’re both ugly as sin. [Olympus via SlashGear]