Hello everyone,

I'm writing this topic because I can't find a right fit for me. I'm working on a project where AR glasses would be an "extra monitor" and connected to a PC using Windows OS. The AR Glasses would just (for now) mirror the PC monitor or parts of it.

The easiest solution for me would be to start my project with AR glasses that are using a Windows OS. However, all the glasses I could find are using Android OS. I'm not interested by the Hololens, because it is too expensive and too bulky.

Using Google, I found 3 ways to solve my issue but as I'm a noob, I'm writing this topic so that people who are more expert than me can tell me if I understood correctly, and maybe guide me on which path I should choose :

Solution 1 : Someone in the world knows where to find AR glasses with Windows OS on them. Can someone give me a brand name if you think this solution is viable ?
Solution 2 : I misunderstood how AR glasses work, and I could install any OS I want on any Smart Glasses. This article talks about Vuzix m100 android smart glasses that are using windows 10 OS. Is it possible to switch OS on smart glasses ? If yes, I will just buy any smart glasses that would fit my needs.
Solution 3 : I'll just code a piece of software that will bridge the Android OS app with my Windows OS software. This solution seems to involve more work, but maybe a bit of code is already available in open source.

Which solution would you pick if you had to conduct this project, knowing that the PC has to use Windows OS and the AR glasses have to mirror the PC Screen.

Thank you for your help,
Best Regards,
Joseph Nguyen

i'm not aware of any smart glasses that are not bulky, other than the google glass, definitely won't work for what you need, they are more of a heads up display rather than augmented reality. What smart glasses have you been looking at? I don't think the smart glasses technology is quite where you're hoping them to be yet. there's really not a whole lot of choices at the moment.

The solution i'd choose is VR, maybe oculus or vive, but again, bulky (and  need to be connected to the computer, so probably also not going to work for you). Smart glasses also have a hard time showing black. hololense for example does not show black. black is transparent

(The Vuzix looks pretty cool though, i don't think they said what OS it's running on, but it's likely not windows)

Hello iedoc, thank you for your response.

You are right, let me be more specific. Hololens is too bulky for me, even though it's only slightly bigger. Please find two pictures below for illustration. Vuzix AR glasses are okay.

Hololens
Vuzix

I thought Google Glass was a dead project, is it still on ? And yes, as Good was the first smart glasses, it wasn't enough for me.

I've been looking at Vuzix, Solos-wearable, Everysight, ODG, Sony, Avegant, Toshiba, and many others. I won't waste your time. Basically, they are all okay, but they are also all on Android OS (except Toshiba). As I'm working on Windows, using Windows software, I would like to use a Windows OS on my smart glasses too.

I had to discard VR because it is way too bulky and it cuts you from your environment, which I don't want to do.

It's okay if the glasses are connected to the PC as I want to mirror the monitor on the glasses, or at least a part of it. It's okay if the black color is transparent, all these issues will be resolved at some point, in some way.

Thank you for your help,

I hope I was more specific.

Joseph, I didn't see Epson Moverio in your list. It's Android too. A few years ago I was trying to do something like what you discuss in your other thread - you talked about mirroring the display, but I was trying to stream video. Couldn't find a way at the time. Google has indeed discontinued the Glass. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/new-google-glass-news-and-rumors/  Have you looked at Intel's Vaunt?

Hello Tom, thank you for your answer.

I'll check Epson Moverio glasses right away. The more, the better. I just watched the Epson Moverio video on Youtube, there is a scene where the guy can see "through" the camera of his drone in his glasses. No doubt, it's a special effect stunt in this video, but maybe, if I learn more about how content is streamed between the drone and the glasses, I could find a solution.

Wow, Intel's Vaunt is really something else, thank you again, one more in my list ! Finally someone who thought a little more about interactions with the display. I have a few ideas about this one. I couldn't find the OS, but I'll keep an eye on it.

If I find a way myself, I'll make sure to give the solution I chose here. It won't be a pretty one, this I can tell :).

Thank you again !

7 hours ago, Joseph Nguyen said:

I'm working on a project where AR glasses would be an "extra monitor" and connected to a PC using Windows OS. The AR Glasses would just (for now) mirror the PC monitor or parts of it.

Let's take a step back, and understand a little more about what you are trying to accomplish.

Do you want to have a PC display show up in a fixed location relative to the user's gaze, so it always stays in front of them as they move their head? Or do you want to have a PC display show up in a fixed location in the world, so that the user can look/walk away from the monitor, and it stays anchored there?

The former is relatively simple, and is basically exactly what the Epson Moverio or something like Sony's old HMZ-T1 are designed to do. The options in this space are pretty clunky and/or expensive, but widely available. Most of them are either geared at 3D movies or AR drone racing.

If you want to anchor the display in the world, then you need a headset that tracks head motion. Your cheapest option is probably a VR headset. You've already ruled out Hololens, Magic Leap isn't out yet... The only other entrant in this space that I am aware of, and that is currently available for purchase would be the Meta 2. Which is also quite pricey, and no idea if you can pipe a PC display in.

My advice here would be to prototype your product on a smartphone (stream PC to the smartphone via some sort of VNC solution, use ARCore/ARKit to place the display feed in the world). That'll let you prove out the concept, then you can drop the phone in something like a Mira Prism for demonstration/testing, and by the time you have a viable product, a product like Leap Motion's North Star or the Magic Leap may actually be widely available.

Hello swiftcoder and thank you for your answer.

You are right. Once again, I'm too vague. To answer your questions : I would like to mirror the PC screen in a fixed location relative to the user's gaze, so it always stays in front of them as they move their head (sorry I just quoted your message exactly, but I couldn't say it better).

Given what you are saying, I'm more likely to use an Epson Moverio-like glasses. I read in the specifications that the Moverio is using Android OS and that there is an android SDK available. Do you think that it is possible to use an android SDK to mirror the screen of a Windows PC on an Android Smart Glasses ? (I'll probably have to code a bit so that windows OS and Android OS can interact with each other).

I'll try to do it with a smartphone as you say, it is way less risky and I'll probably learn a lot just by taking this simple step, I can't believe I didn't think of that before. Thank you very much for your help.

Thank you for your response !
Best regards,
Joseph

On Android, I use Chrome Remote Desktop to mirror my PC on my phone, so it's certainly possible... 

But we can probably be a bit more helpful if you explain the reasons / big picture for why / what. Currently this sounds like an x/y problem: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem

Is it just that you have experience working with Windows, but not Android, so are looking for a way to keep your workflow? Or does your app need a lot of computational power to create images that a simple mobile device couldn't? Or is it fundamentally some kind of remote control for a desktop PC? 

Also, mobiles / headsets that are running "Windows 10" are likely running the version for ARM CPUs, not the typical Intel/AMD version, which means regular software that you have expedience producing wouldn't work anyway.

If you do really need to stream images from a desktop to a mobile, you'll have to think about what quality and latency is acceptable. An uncompressed 1080p video at 60Hz requires a 3Gbps link, which is obviously not feasible, so some form of compression is required. The appropriate choices then depend on the actual content. 

6 hours ago, Joseph Nguyen said:

I couldn't find the OS, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Since it's made by Intel, I assumed either Windows or MacOS - but I see that Intel now makes ARM processors too. 

Thank you Tom Sloper, I also think ("hope" probably fits better) that it is Windows.

Thank you Hodgman for trying to help me. I know about the XY problem, To be honest with you, I've tried so many times the X approach, and got turned down so hard so many times, that I decided to never do it again. A long time ago, I would ask a question about my "big picture" and I would always have an answer that is absolutely not what I wanted to do. For other times, I usually got a "are you dumb ?" or "your project is useless". But hey, it's a new year, I'll try that one more time.

So here is the big picture. Ultimately, I would like to allow a friend of mine to "draw shapes" on what I see on my AR glasses. Let's say I'm on top of a mountain and I'm streaming live what I see (using AR glasses) to a friend who is on his PC. I would like my friend to see what I see and allow him to interact with me. For instance, he could annotate informations on what I see. He would directly make his annotations on his screen, and I want to be able to see his "drawings" directly on my glasses (even if it is way smaller).

Or we could use this for a more "constructive" project. Let's say I'm a mechanic, and I don't know how to repair a machine and my friend does. If I use the same system (broadcast what I see and allow him to annotate what I see), he could guide me through the steps so I can repair my machine.

I know, it's a really broad project. There are probably thousands of ways to do it, and there are definetely thousands of ways where I couldn't do it. So there is a high chance that the solutions you will give me, won't be accessible for me because I lack the skills, that's why I tried the Y approach. At least the Y approach is something I could do, and I wouldn't waste all of your time.

However, I'm open-minded, and I'm ready to listen to your solutions fully, I'll just ask you to do the same for me if I can't follow you or if I ask "stupid" questions for an expert. I also know that it will be really hard for the experts here to be "nice". I work with experts all day and I watch them go mad at me everyday for asking "stupid" questions, so I understand if you lash out at me at some point.

Thank you again for your help everyone,
Best regards,
Joseph