Leaked concept videos showcase Samsung's first AR smart glasses
What's the story
Samsung's latest foray into augmented reality-capable eyewear dubbed Samsung Glasses Lite appears to be the culmination of development efforts dating back to 2019. On Sunday, renowned leakster WalkingCat tweeted two concept videos showcasing what the device can do. Samsung's AR glasses are shown projecting a giant virtual screen into the viewer's field of view, replete with integrated smartwatch controls and a "Sunglasses Mode".
Twitter Post
WalkingCat leaks Samsung AR Glasses concept videos on Twitter
and..... this is the 3D holographic version https://t.co/PXDAHjDNWb
— WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) February 21, 2021
DeX integration
Glasses could be used as AR display in various situations
The first short video demonstrates the rather bulky Samsung Glasses Lite. It shows use-cases such as playing video games, watching movies, attending video calls, and using the glasses as a first-person-view (FPV) screen for a DJI drone. The video also demonstrates the glasses emulating a giant computer screen through the wearer's perspective using Samsung DeX.
Smartwatch control
AR glasses could be using electrochromic glass for Sunglasses Mode
The first video shows the glasses automatically darkening when Sunglasses Mode is enabled. The implementation seems to resemble the electrochromic glass seen on the OnePlus Concept One smartphone from 2020. The video shows the wearer effortlessly switching between tasks using smartwatch-integrated control for the glasses. We could possibly see similar implementations from Facebook and Apple, as they are developing smartwatches alongside their AR projects.
Virtual environment
The eyewear is designed to immerse wearer in Augmented Reality
WalkingCat's second video shows a similar eyewear accessory with AR capability, called "Samsung AR Glasses". This product places an object in the wearer's real-world environment much like Google's Playground app which works with Google Camera. The video also demonstrates the glasses' capability to immerse the wearer in a completely virtual environment using a feature called AR Simulation.
Far from reality
Smartwatch control for AR could be a more realistic approach
This implementation is somewhat similar to Microsoft's HoloLens. But the field of view with see-through AR glasses like these is pretty limited, so don't expect the actual experience to be anywhere close to what's depicted in the leaked videos. However, the smartwatch control scheme seems more reliable, especially when it's used for simple virtual display projection as demonstrated in the videos.