Bose AR sunglasses

[TheMarsMartian]

Bose has just unveiled a $199 pair of AR sunglasses called "Frames". They are now available for preorder on their site here and will ship in January 2019.

Source: https://globalpressroom.bose.com/us-en/pressrelease/view/1965/FALSE/0 

     Let's get through the boring stuff first. On Bose's website, it states that the sunglasses come in two different "timeless" styles, Rondo and Alto.

     

     Now let's get into its specs. The glasses themselves weigh just 45 grams according to TheVerge. You can find their article on Bose Frames here. A typical pair of sunglasses weighs around 30-35 grams so they are just a bit heavier than the sunglasses you have now. Inside of the Frames lies a lithium battery that's capable of 3.5 hours of playback and 12 hours on standby. They can be fully recharged in less than 2 hours. " The glasses contain no earbud or earcup. The glasses have an "ultra-small microphone" and multifunction button embedded on the right side of the glasses. The multifunction button is used for power, pairing, voice assistants (Siri, google assistant, etc.), Calls, and obviously play/pause and skip.

 

     Bose markets Frames as an "audio ar wearable". According to them, the glasses don't change what you see of add things to it. Instead, it can see where you are and where you're facing by a 9-axis motion sensor and the GPS on your phone. It uses that information to add a layer of audio that connects you to that place and time for "endless travel, learning, entertainment, gaming, and more." Could this mean a game where you visit certain places and collect something? I don't know I've never heard of a game like that *cough* *cough* audio pokemon go *cough* *cough*. Bose states that they are developing AR experiences.

 

     To conclude I want to say that this seems like a good idea but I don't understand why you need this, I just seems like a novelty item at this point but we'll wait and see. Maybe they will make an audio pokemon go like game. The way they market it is a bit misleading because AR usually refers to our eyes being augmented.  

Edited December 5, 2018 by TheMarsMartian
Slimming it down to follow guidelines

[Enderman]

So.... headphones are now called artificial reality...?

[kelvinhall05]

The name is bullshit. As far as I can tell, these are glorified headphones attached to cheap sunglasses. I feel like neither part of the unit will be done well and the price is stupid.

[SansVarnic]

@TheMarsMartian Please make the proper changes to yor post to meet the posting guidelines for the Tech News section.

 

Quote

When creating a thread in the News subforum, please make sure your post meets the following criteria:

• Your thread must include some original input to tell the reader why it is relevant to them, and what your personal opinion on the topic is. This needs to be MORE than just a quick, single comment to meet the posting guidelines.
• Your thread must include a link to at least one reputable source. Most of the time, this should be a respected news site.
• Your thread should also include quotes from the cited source(s). While you shouldn't just copy the entire article, your quote should give the reader a summary of the article in a way that gives the key details, but also leaves room for them to read the full article on the linked website. Please use quote tags to show that you have copied this content from another site.
• The title of your thread must be relevant to the topic and should give a reader a good idea of the contents of the thread. Copying the title of the source is permitted but absolutely not required. It should be to the point and not be done in such a way as to mislead a reader, such as clickbait, etc.
• If your article is about a product or some form of media, images are always appreciated, although they are not required.

Failure to comply may result in your thread being locked or removed without warning.

 

[Ja50n]

Confusing marketing and a weird product... what purpose does this serve? Bluetooth headphones and a half decent pair of shades cost less and offer proven utility. I can’t wait for “The sun’s out but my glasses haven’t finished charging!”

[mr moose]

36 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

The name is bullshit. As far as I can tell, these are glorified headphones attached to cheap sunglasses. I feel like neither part of the unit will be done well and the price is stupid.

If they do sound as good as marketed they are not overly expensive for a BT headset with directional control and don't require earbuds or cans, which effectively means you can still hear the car that is about to hit you while listening to music and answering the phone.

16 minutes ago, Ja50n said:

Confusing marketing and a weird product... what purpose does this serve? Bluetooth headphones and a half decent pair of shades cost less and offer proven utility. I can’t wait for “The sun’s out but my glasses haven’t finished charging!”

As I said above, if you don';t need earbuds or cans then you have nothing to take out when someone wants to talk to you, you can still be present to your environment whilst enjoying the benefits of a BT headset.  $199 is not that expensive for something that has advantages (even if it doesn't turn out to be audio quality).

[iLostMyXbox21]

i dont get it.. they are AR glasses that do not change what you see? can someone explain this to me?

[NumLock21]

Those looked like the one, this guy is wearing.

 

[TheMarsMartian]

3 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

The name is bullshit. As far as I can tell, these are glorified headphones attached to cheap sunglasses. I feel like neither part of the unit will be done well and the price is stupid.

Yeah i don't know why the called it that

[bcredeur97]

they shouldn't have a right to call this AR tbh... nice marketing play tho

I'm not falling for it.

[TheMarsMartian]

1 minute ago, bcredeur97 said:

they shouldn't have a right to call this AR tbh... nice marketing play tho

I'm not falling for it.

yeah they shouldn't because if you look at it that way then speakers themselves are AR they don't have to be $200 sunglasses

[mynameisjuan]

2 hours ago, bcredeur97 said:

they shouldn't have a right to call this AR tbh... nice marketing play tho

I'm not falling for it.

Why not? Augmented reality is what these are doing. AR is not just about visuals.

[williamcll]

Please come back google glasses.

[kokakolia]

16 hours ago, TheMarsMartian said:

 

 

     To conclude I want to say that this seems like a good idea but I don't understand why you need this, I just seems like a novelty item at this point but we'll wait and see. Maybe they will make an audio pokemon go like game. The way they market it is a bit misleading because AR usually refers to our eyes being augmented.  

Trust me, I would kill for these at work! I flag trees in the woods to show where to build pipelines. If I could see the lines as I flag instead of relying on a GPS pole it would make my job 100 times easier. I know that Trimble is currently developing something similar. It’s definitely useful for construction purposes. You can visualize where things go before you build them. No need to put dozens of confusing stakes in the dirt with coloured ribbons. 

 

 

[TheMarsMartian]

26 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

Trust me, I would kill for these at work! I flag trees in the woods to show where to build pipelines. If I could see the lines as I flag instead of relying on a GPS pole it would make my job 100 times easier. I know that Trimble is currently developing something similar. It’s definitely useful for construction purposes. You can visualize where things go before you build them. No need to put dozens of confusing stakes in the dirt with coloured ribbons. 

 

 

According to Bose these won't augment your vision so unless you can rely on a sound beacon or something I don't think these will be useful for your job or am I just missing something?

[kokakolia]

1 hour ago, TheMarsMartian said:

According to Bose these won't augment your vision so unless you can rely on a sound beacon or something I don't think these will be useful for your job or am I just missing something?

Maybe they can vibrate like a lane departure system when I go off the line on the grid. 

[TheMarsMartian]

7 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

Maybe they can vibrate like a lane departure system when I go off the line on the grid. 

Maybe

[Ja50n]

16 hours ago, mr moose said:

If they do sound as good as marketed they are not overly expensive for a BT headset with directional control and don't require earbuds or cans, which effectively means you can still hear the car that is about to hit you while listening to music and answering the phone.

As I said above, if you don';t need earbuds or cans then you have nothing to take out when someone wants to talk to you, you can still be present to your environment whilst enjoying the benefits of a BT headset.  $199 is not that expensive for something that has advantages (even if it doesn't turn out to be audio quality).

Bone conductive headphones are already available, though, and the best ones sell for under $140... The difference here is Bose is adding “AR”, with their implementation sounding a lot like an audio program on a museum tour.

[TheMarsMartian]

47 minutes ago, Ja50n said:

Bone conductive headphones are already available, though, and the best ones sell for under $140... The difference here is Bose is adding “AR”, with their implementation sounding a lot like an audio program on a museum tour.

I don't think they are using bone conductive headphones but I don't really know.