Comparison of Augmented Reality Glasses, Google Glass, Meta, castAR

Google Glass got a lot of media attention recently, but there are a lot better things around the corner that should hit consumer shelves within 2-3 years. I’ve been developing Augmented Reality apps for manufacturing companies at my day job, and wanted to share some of the neat things I see coming, as well as discuss the few remaining hurdles holding them back.

Cruise uses hand motions to flip through video.

In the very near future, I believe glasses that enable futuristic interfaces straight out of the movies will be on Best Buy shelves. The glasses will overlay information in real-time Terminator style, and you’ll be able to interact with it by grabbing and flicking information like in Minority report or Iron Man. (btw, if you think people on bluetooth headsets talking to themselves look crazy, imagine someone waving their hands around interacting with imaginary objects).

Terminator vision overlays information in real time.

Google Glass: a small Heads Up Display + Camera

You might think this type of thing is already provided by Google Glass, but Glass is an extremely limited form of augmented reality. It only provides a small rectangle in your field of view (a HUD, or “Heads Up Display”).