Toshiba unveils new smart glasses powered by a portable Windows 10 Pro PC
Google Glass teased an interesting future, but failed to deliver on its promise. Today, Toshiba picks up where Glass left off, with a pair of Augmented Reality (AR) glasses powered by a mini Windows 10 PC.
The glasses link together a dynaEdge AR100 Head Mounted Display (HMD) with a dynaEdge DE-100 Mobile Mini PC, which is essentially a handheld, battery-powered Windows 10 system.
The dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses are designed for enterprise customers and promise document viewing, live video calls, see-what-I-see, photo/video capture, alerts/messaging, workflow instruction and barcode scanning capabilities.
The Toshiba AR100 Head Mounted Display weighs less than two ounces and features an integrated micro display with a viewing experience equivalent to a 4.1-inch display seen at 14 inches. It has an integrated touchpad, GPS, three-axis accelerometer with a gyroscope for head tracking, 5MP POV camera, speaker and dual noise-cancelling microphones.
The dynaEdge DE-100 Mobile Mini PC measures 6.5 x 3.3 x 0.8 inches thin and weighs less than 11 ounces. It features a five-button, on-device navigation system to enable up/down, left/right toggles, as well as an enter button.
The dynaEdge PC can also be used as a traditional Windows 10 Pro desktop by connecting it to a standard display.
"For decades, Toshiba has been instrumental in streamlining the operations of businesses around the world through cutting-edge, mobile computing technologies. Much like how laptops have increased office productivity by enabling workers to take their PCs with them anywhere they go, we believe that wearable PCs combined with smart glasses will take on-the-job productivity to a whole new dimension," said Carl Pinto, vice president, marketing and engineering, Client Solutions Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.
"We developed the dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses to help businesses mobilize their frontline and field workers and improve business outcomes with powerful PC solutions that can go anywhere they go without being obstructive. For the first time, a Windows-based PC can be worn to provide augmented reality for the job site, and operated using voice and touch HMD technologies, keeping hands free for hands-on work."
The dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses and a complete line of accessories will be available in the second quarter of 2018 with a starting MSRP of $1,899.99.