Olympus HMD Earlier Than Google Glass

More and more people find out about Google Glass. But let’s be honest, Google was not the first one to present similar concept to the public. While I also do not know, who was the first, here are some pictures from the 2010 by Olympus.

Yes, something similar to MEG4 glasses, but in a more stylish form, I bet.

Japanese mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo and Olympus presented this device at the Ceatec event. I really like the design.

Olympus HMD

I don’t have exact specs of it, but at least it had acceleration and direction sensors 🙂 For example, you could look up and see the weather forecast. Pretty neat. Wonder, if MEG4 was a direct development of these glasses? MEG4 design is not so appealing, though.

Olympus HMD Glass

Actually, there was even a 2008 year model, but it was quite heavy. Around 91 grams, opposed to 10-20 of the normal glasses weight.

As a bonus, another concept from that conference, which has two displays. Manufacturer is a Japanese company Scalar. Playing Ingress would be much more fun with these.

HMD Scalar

Ingress April Hangout With Niantic

Another Ingress Hangout with Niantic employees has occurred recently. As you remember, the previous one revealed many interesting facts about the game and its future development.

Ingress Hangout April

This one is no difference, check out some of the most interesting points.

  • Ambitious plan to have 1 billion gamers. Way too much, I think 🙂
  • Social networks are closely monitored for valuable ideas. Keep posting with corresponding hashtags.
  • IITC related AP discrimination does not exist. But Niantic still discourages users from TOS violations.
  • API is on its way. It will have option to create custom missions (eagerly waiting for this).
  • Balancing is still being calibrated to ensure that game stays exciting for both factions in all areas.
  • No iOS at the moment, will take quite some time.
  • Local MU score is on its way. There is really no need for global as no one cares.
  • Niantic considers some role-play options for the Ingress. Different roles, which can include fighters, defenders, farmers etc. My thought — this should be changeable after some period of time or anytime.
  • Idea of exchanging items is also quite strong. Probably, via NFC or some other way?
  • NFC based missions — link players for some period of time to collaborate.
  • Niantic is not really Google. They work independently, using Google’s resources and support.
  • NIA is an actual US agency and government was questioning Niantic on “what the hell you’re doing there??” 🙂

Just to remind that there should be extra invites available for L2+ users and current waiting time for email invite is around 3 weeks.

Google Glass Revolution Has Begun

Google Glass Revolution Has Begun

So, Google Glass revolution has begun.

Couple of days ago, first lucky winners of the Google’s contest got Glasses and web has already been flooded by images and videos shot from the 1st person view and.. with user hands in the frame 🙂

These are first users outside Google, so be prepared for the very exciting beta-testing period.

There are also some extra information about device itself. Yes, it really uses bone conduction principle to deliver sound. Camera is pretty nice — 5MP for images and 720p for video. Display resolution is 640 x 360, which is equivalent to viewing a 25-inch HD display from eight feet.

Though Glass has 16GB storage on board (12GB usable), main functionality will be provided via paired Android smartphone and app called MyGlass. Glass can be connected via Bluetooth and it also has a built-in Wi-Fi. Charging is by Micro USB and special recommended adapter.

Not much functionality yet, device can be mostly used as a camera and search engine, but Google promised software updates every month. Sounds interesting.

Have I already said they are damn stylish? Currently, five colors available, though I guess black and white will be the most popular ones. Below is the adaptation for sunglasses, it is not part of the Glass Exporer lineup.

Google Glass Orange

Also, Google warned that reselling and even lending is strictly prohibited. They reserve the right to switch off your Glass in this case. No idea, how it is done, but apparently they have a simple way to do that (by serial number, for example).

A special warning has been issued that in some exceptional circumstances, Glass can cause eye-strain or headache. I believe this is similar to the headache some people experiencing while watching 3D movies.

And as a conclusion, here is a manual of how to use Glass. While most of us do not have it yet, we can at least check how it should be used.

Sony Steps In Glass War With Own HMD Device

If you don’t like Google much or afraid of their dominant position on the market, then you will be pleased to know that not only Google works on augmented glasses project.

You have already read about Olympus concept. And now there is a patent from Sony describing similar device, which is called there “head-mounted display (HMD) apparatus”

Sony Augmented Glasses

 

Let’s look at the key points.

The main difference I see — there are two displays behind the glasses’ lenses. These are movable, so that you could adjust and fine tune according to your preference. Earplugs are probably traditional, not bone conduction audio, which Google Glass will have.

At the same time, Sony is a hi-tech company with a rich history and lots of resources, so pretty sure they will add some innovation into this emerging topic.

Device will display 2D content, though I think is enough. Imagine 3D Avatar movie while you are walking across the street. A bit distracting 🙂

Unfortunately, no other info available regarding technical specifications, but I bet we won’t wait for long.

HMD Glass topic becomes more and more popular, so Google’s competitors definitely do not want to be left aside. It is time to jump the train or to be left on the platform.

Ingress Baltic Fog Report

Here is English field report from Ingress Resistance team in Belarus, regarding that huge blue cover last week.

Report can be read here.

Well done! Good example of brilliant cooperation and dedication to the game. As far as I can see, people really planned it and travelled to exchange keys etc, so if you accuse them in cheating, please provide some evidence.

Ingress Resistance Belarus

Ingress Resistance Field Covering Northern Europe

Another remarkable Ingress achievement. This time Resistance team captured a huge territory in Northern Europe.

As you can see, half of the Baltic sea, countries of Estonia and Latvia, half of Lithuania and Belarus, huge part of Russia — all covered with blue.

This happened in just a couple of hours and means either remarkable example of international cooperation or tremendous cheating activity. Yes, unfortunately, we cannot eliminate this possibility.

Would be nice to read field report, describing this game episode and its tactics.

Ingress Baltic Resistance

Update: Operation codename: Baltic Fog. True, Ingress app in those areas should look very “foggy”.

And yes, looks like all legit: carefully planned, no cheating evidence. ~10.3 million MU in total. Whoah!

Update 2: Some reports show that at least Lithuanian part of the field could be cheated.



Update 3: Roberts Romanovskis from Resistance Latvia team shared some info on how operation was planned. People were really travelling between countries — Russian girl visited Belarus and Latvia, Latvian team member in turn went to Estonia and passed keys other keys to Swedish players via Tallinn.

“Planning was 6 days. 6 days was undergoing preparations, key transportation, disturbing link destruction, deception site link building. From the beginning it seemed that 6 days is not possible, but when went to work and saw that the people came forward with their own ideas and solutions.

It became clear that the ideas on behalf of all the possible and feasible.

 It became clear that the ideas on behalf of all the possible and feasible. I am one of many who were invited to participate in the event.

Thanks to all involved! We did it! I am 100% percent I can say that Latvians play fair, as well as Estonians, as well as the Belarusian, Russian. Most were coordinated by direct agents of the Belarusian and Estonian and Russian friends.

Our Latvian agent was in Estonia to help build the site. Helping to Latvia, the girl had come from Russia, Moscow, after having special traveled to Minsk. Was thought to also send agents to Kaunas, but had transportation problems. Involved in more than 35 people, it’s a lot and hard work. Coordinate, transported to think about backup options, if that can fail.

But we managed.

I can tell you, that in Liepaja began to panic as half an hour before link could not understand that the key to Sweden was trapped in the right, no communication with the Swedes. A huge surprise to us was that the Swedes were at midnight in our portal. Certainly keys were mixed, but they managed.

Stress was huge.”

 

Ingress Invites And Power Cubes

Ingress Invites And Power Cubes

Couple of important Ingress game updates.

 

— Ingress invites

 

So, dear Extendiality readers. Seems, Ingress is either going public very soon or at least tremendously increasing its audience. Currently, all L2+ players should have at least 1 invite in the app (some have even two). If those new players get invites as well, then their number will raise exponentially.

Ingress Power Cube

You can send invitations via Intel map as well.

 

— Ingress Power Cubes

 

This is the new item in the Ingress universe. These are large containers of XM for your activities (which is sometimes consumed pretty fast on high levels).

Cubes have Levels like Resonators and XMPs. Amount of XM inside them is very easy to calculate — 1000 XM * Level of the Power Cube. These items started to appear already in the field, but you cannot use them till a new Ingress app update comes, which should be very soon.

Their design is a joke, though. I hope, this is just a glitch 🙂

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