If you thought Google Glass looked obtrusive, wait until you get a load of Sony's hi-tech eyewear. It's called the SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 and unlike the search giant's wireless solution, it's tethered to a "box" that houses many of the device's key components.
Sony's heads-up display device was first showcased in January of 2014 but is now available for pre-order. Instead of being its own device like Glass, Sony's solution is designed to be paired with a smartphone where its apps are run - much like Apple Watch.
The glasses use transparent lenses that can display information like text messages, notifications and e-mails right in front of your eyes. Unfortunately, it's only able to do so in a single color: green. And with a rated battery life of just two and a half hours, this isn't something that you'll be relying on throughout the day - not yet, at least.
The tethered circular disc, which is designed to clip to your shirt, is where the battery, speaker, microphone, NFC and touch sensor reside. There's also a 3-megapixel CMOS image sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and brightness sensor built into the headgear.
Sony's SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 is available for pre-order right now in Germany and the UK at a price of around $840 which is far more affordable than Glass' $1,500 price point (the SDK is also available as of writing). The wearable will be heading to eight additional countries - Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the US - next month.