As we all know, wearable devices are the latest fad in technology. Whether or not this new market is here to stay has yet to be decided but that hasn’t stopped everyone from making devices that cater to this market. While smartwatches and fitness trackers have seen fierce competition lately, the smartglass section has been notably devoid of options. There’s the Google Glass and the Recon Jet (which has been delayed yet again) and then nothing. These two options highlight two specific extremes of the market and while there have been attempts at a solid middle ground, they have all failed miserably. Now a company known mostly for their projectors is taking a second run at the smartglass market after their failed first attempt. Will its replacement do the trick?
The Design
Without a doubt, the most important feature of a wearable is the design. You’re going to be putting this on your body for full display to anyone who sees you so of course you want it to look stylish and sleek. Well, the Epson Moverio BT-200 is neither of those things. It is large and bulky because it sports not only one Android display but two. There are two lenses that have transparent displays for all of the kinds of things you would normally do on your smartphone. Notifications and media consumption are always right in front of you so you don’t have to mess with your smartphone. Not that the Moverio is subtle, people will notice that you’re wearing it but the same thing is true of the Google Glass because the market for smartglasses is so small.
Besides the huge frame of the Moverio, there is a connected control pad that you have to keep in your pocket at all times in order to do anything with it. So you have to wear big lenses and carry yet another thing in your pocket, what’s the good news?
The Good News
It seems as though Epson decided to cut corners on things like the design in order to add more features and keep the price down. The Moverio now has a front facing camera, head detection, a micro SD card slot, and motion tracking. Sure, the Google Glass does have the same features, minus the micro SD card slot, but the difference here is the price. The Google Glass will run you $1500 while the Moverio will only cost you $700, a much more reasonable price, and that is the selling point of the Moverio. It can do everything the Google Glass can do but for cheaper and nowadays, that’s a pretty solid marketing plan. Give the Moverio a chance, I’m sure it’ll grow on you.