Osterhout Design Group thinks people are ready to start donning hologram glasses. The wearables company, which is known for its industrial and medical heads-up displays, is announcing two pairs of glasses that are geared toward a wider audience. The R-8 and R-9 won’t fool anyone into thinking you’re wearing Oakleys, but they’re relatively compact and cheap — and coming soon after a major fundraising round for ODG, plus a recent partnership with China Mobile’s Migu Video.
The R-8 (seen above) and R-9 glasses (below) are both powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, and they run ODG’s Android Nougat 7.0-based Reticle OS. Like Microsoft HoloLens, they have six-degree-of-freedom tracking, so they can place digital items in real space instead of just slapping a flat overlay across the world. Based on the previously announced Project Horizon prototype, the R-9 is the high-end model, designed to provide more industrial options. It’s got a 50-degree field of view — which is large for augmented reality glasses — with 1080p resolution and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera that can record 4K video.
An extension port in the R-9 glasses lets companies attach specialized sensor modules, adding features like low-light vision or improved environmental scanning. At around $1,800, it’s cheaper than either the Microsoft HoloLens or ODG’s more rugged R-7 industrial glasses, which will remain on sale for $2,750. ODG is set to ship R-9 developer units in the second quarter of 2017, with a wider release soon after.
The R-8, aimed more squarely at consumer early adopters, trims down the specs a bit. Its field of view is a more modest 40 degrees, its display has 720p resolution, and there’s no port for expansion modules. But it’s also lighter — 4.5 ounces compared to the R-9’s 6.5 ounces — and cheaper, at under $1,000. It’s also got two 1080p cameras on the front that can capture stereo video. ODG expects to ship it in the second half of 2017.