14 DAY TRIAL // Hand-malleable holograms like the ones in Iron Man may be impossible for technology to duplicate in real life right now, but the same cannot be said about simulating them through a pair of glasses. Meta is working on just that sort of augmented reality eyewear.
That picture up on the left shows a set of aviator glasses that enable true augmented reality for whoever is wearing them.
The aviator has two main technologies: the one that shows the “holograms” in the lenses and the surface tracking and hand tracking algorithms that “see” how your hands are moving and where.
The technology can identify and track wall and table surfaces even if the cameras in the Meta glasses cannot see the bounds of those surfaces.
Previously, this wasn't possible, and it was the main barrier in front of success. The 9-axis inertial measurement unit in the glasses ultimately broke through the obstacle.
That said, user hands can be identified in any orientation now, and there is almost no wait time in starting to track them. It's not totally latency-free yet, but it's almost there.
The people at Engadget got a chance to play with the first prototype of the Meta Pro headset and there were three programs they tried.
One of them allows you to create a digital rocket engine nozzle by shaping the profile with your fingers. Two other programs let you interact with a virtual iPhone and a real-world lamp (virtual buttons turned it on and off).
Obviously, Meta wants to simulate actual holograms like the ones in Iron Man, but it still needs to work on the hardware and software to get there. At present, it's still hard for people to gauge how far out to extend their hands, for example.
The company doesn't think it will take too long though. The first Meta Pro is expected to become available in June 2014, for the price of $3,000 / €3,000.
The Meta Pro will have transparent displays used by military aircraft, with 40-degree field of view and good visibility in bright areas. Dual RGB cameras will track your hands and surroundings at any range.
As for the technical specs, here they are: Intel Core i5 CPU, 128 GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0. Everything runs on a 32WHr battery.