MWC 2016 News & Update:Epson Unveils Augmented Reality Glasses Moverio BT-300

Epson announced the new Moverio BT-300 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but the device will be available just later, in a few months.

Virtual reality (VR) applications and devices could make users forget about the augmented reality (AR). Even if its applications are in comparison more niche, AR holds promise not only as an added feature of VR but also simply by itself.

Epson, a manufacturer of printers and projectors, is one of the companies that are early purveyors of AR. The previous model of Moverio augmented reality glasses, the BT-200, was intrusive, heavy and featured a poor resolution. However, the Moverio BT-300 comes with big improvements. The device is no longer intrusive, heavy or clunky, according to Tom's Hardware. The resolution is much improved as well.

Epson's product manager, Eric Mizufuka, declared at the Mobile World Congress event that the new versions of Moverio augmented reality glasses presented in Barcelona are much sturdier. One of the biggest changes in the next-generation BT-300 is a shift from the LCD-based glass display to a custom silicon OLED projection based panel.

The new OLED panel will provide more efficient power usage, more brightness, better contrast, more responsiveness, a wider color gamut and more visual precision. The resolution of the Moverio BT-300 is 720p.

The BT-300 device features binocular glasses providing a 23 degree field of view. The control unit is based on Android 5.1 and features a quad core Intel Atom X5, running at 1.44GHz. The controller in the BT-300 is sleeker and more ergonomic than in BT-200. It features a directional pad and a selector at the top and a touchpad on the bottom.

The front facing camera is 5MP and it will allow applications such as Drone control, remote control and remote viewing. According to PC World, the BT-300 glasses and controller are 20 percent lighter than those of the BT-200. They will weigh in the 60g+ range.