Finally, a functional AR device that’s perfect for the opera.
The augmented reality (AR) market is poised to explode over the next decade with companies such as Apple and Meta supposedly working on their own respective AR glasses for consumers. Then there’s Brilliant Monocle, a unique-looking AR device from Brilliant Labs designed to work with your existing eyewear.
According to Brilliant Labs, Brilliant Monocle is an open-source device designed for modification and hacking. As previously mentioned, the next-gen monocle can be clipped onto third-party frames. This could be anything from a pair of prescription spectacles to basic reading glasses. Of course, you could always attach the device to an actual monocle for a classier experience.
The device is controlled using two capacitive touch buttons that respond to interactions including double taps, long presses, and various other gestures. In terms of use cases, Brilliant Monocle can supposedly be used for everything from AR game and app design to computer vision research and ML-based image augmentation.
Here’s a detailed list of specs (as provided by Brilliant Labs):
- 640×400 color OLED display
- 20-degree field-of-view (FOV) optical body
- 5MP camera
- Microphone
- FPGA-based acceleration for ML/CV
- Bluetooth 5.2
- 70mAh internal battery
- Touch buttons
- Full-featured MicroPython-based OS
Brilliant Monocle is shipping now in monthly batches for $349. Each purchase comes with a USB-C cable and a charging case that can be used up to six times on one charge. There’s also a companion app for iOS and Android devices that can be used to transfer photos through Bluetooth.
For more information, you can check out the full hardware schematics here.
Feature Image Credit: Brilliant Labs
