Reality check
AR finally gets real courtesy of Nreal Air glasses
IT SEEMS like we’ve been talking about virtual and augmented reality going mainstream forever… and it never seems to quite happen.
We’re all carrying AR devices around with us now, but who really uses their phones for that?
The only way AR is ever going to really take hold is if someone invents a lightweight and wearable pair of glasses that are no more inconvenient than regular glasses.
This week we have news of a company that has at last gone some way to achieving that goal – and yet, while close, the technology is still not quite there.
You can now buy a pair of AR sunglasses from EE – the Nreal Air cost £399, and you can spread the cost as you might with a phone, paying £10 up front, then £35-a-month for 11 months.
That’s pretty pricey, especially when you consider what they can do.
The first thing to know about the Airs is that they have no cameras. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
An advantage because it avoids the kind of privacy issues that more or less did for Google’s Glass project.
It’s a disadvantage because the Airs obviously have no idea what you are looking at while you are wearing them, and therefore can’t really offer the kind of AR experience you might expect – no floating labels on landmarks, or direction arrows pointing the way as you try to navigate unfamiliar streets
The second thing to know is the Airs need to be connected to a phone via a USB-C cable at all times. And there are only a very limited number of Android devices supported – so no iphone.
Again, there are pluses and minuses to this.
It’s the major reason the glasses are so light and comfortable to
wear – they have no batteries of
their own, but draw power from your phone.
This is also a disadvantage as they’ll drain your phone battery with extended use. The cable also might be something of a distraction.
So what we end up with is a pair of sunglasses that more or less look like a pair of sunglasses, but hidden within is a pair of tiny displays that can project images onto an extra set of lenses that sit behind the main ones at the front.
Once connected to your phone you can use an app to either mirror your phone’s screen, or enter a VR mode with floating screens that you can interact with using your phone’s touchscreen.
You can also look around this space by turning your head left and right or up and down, to see more objects in the space.
The screen mirror mode is perhaps much more useful – with this you can watch videos on a giant screen, or even play games in your own private cinema.
It’s limited, and not really offering the full scope of the experience we might expect from an AR device. The reliance on a phone is also a drawback.
The whole thing is, though, a step in the right direction, and has at least made it to market.
One of the few other devices that can claim to have made some ground in this area are Snap’s next generation Spectacles, which do provide AR overlays on the world around you using in-built cameras. But these are not available to buy yet and exist only for developers to work on their AR software.
The Nreal Air sunglasses are tantalisingly close to the real thing, and a sure sign that the technology is getting there… at this price, though, they’re probably only for those who really like to explore the cutting edge.
Find out more at Nrea.ai, or at ee.co.uk