K-Glass

From HCE Wiki - The Human Cognitive Enhancement Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
K-Glass
K-glass 1.jpg
Category smartglasses
Developer Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology [1]
Announced 17 February 2014 [2]
Released Developers: 2014
Consumers: 2015 [3]
Price USD (unknown)
Operating system Android [4]
Display LCD [4]
Resolution 800x600 pixels [4]
Field of view (unknown)
Weight g (unknown)
Controls

gaze, touchpad, electrooculography [4][5]

Data available good
Risk factor low
Standalone
http://ssl.kaist.ac.kr/

K-Glass is a head-mounted, augmented reality system being developed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). It uses novelty image recognition hardware and software to quickly analyse the scene through the incorporated camera and displays relevant information to the user.

The device has not yet entered commercial market. Professor Yoo Hoi-jun[6], one of the authors of the paper introducing the device, said that they planned to commercialize the device by the beginning of 2015.[3] As of December 2015, no new information is known about K-Glass, nor is the device available to purchase.

There is a new iteration of the device called K-Glass 2, see below for more information.

Main characteristics

The device consists of one 800x600 pixels micro-display, 720p camera, touchpad, and auxiliary hardware. K-Glass uses novel way of image recognition. The on-board augmented reality processor BONE-AR utilizes data processing network to analyse the scene and allows the device to react with relevant virtual information quickly. This custom processor is based on the Visual Attention Model that mimics how natural human vision works, without the need to use any markers.[7] In comparison to similar HMD systems, K-Glass recognizes items in the scene quicker and uses less power.[4]

KAIS also developed a newer version called K-Glass 2.[8][9] This iteration is equipped with gaze recognition interface called i-Mouse. It enables the user to use gaze and winking as a form of input. KAIST uploaded a video demonstration of K-Glass 2 image recognition abilities to Youtube.[10]

Purpose

K-Glass aims to offer head-mounted system capable of fast image recognition that uses less power and can utilize user's gaze and winking as input.

Company & People

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a public research university located in Daedeok Innopolis, Daejeon, South Korea.[1] K-Glass is developed by the Semiconductor System Laboratory (SSL) under the Department of Electrical Engineering.[11]

  • Gyeonghoon Kim - Post Doctorate Researcher[12]
  • Sungpill Choi - Professor ( Ph.D.)[13]
  • Hoi-Jun Yoo - Ph.D. Student[6]

Important Dates

  • 17 February 2014 - SSL publishes a paper detailing K-Glass[2]
  • 23 February 2015 - Introduction of the improved K-Glass 2[9]

Enhancement/Therapy/Treatment

Enhancement - K-Glass with its advanced image recognition system is very much suited for industrial and general use. It can enhance workers or layperson abilities to assemble, work with, or repair machinery or other objects. The image recognition can enhance an individual with the ability to translate texts in real time, to recognize faces or places, and utilize the eye movement as a form of silent, hand-free input.

Ethical & Health Issues

There are no ethical or health issues connected to this particular device.

For more general issues connected with smartglasses, please see the Smartglasses synopsis.

Public & Media Impact and Presentation

The media devoted the most attention towards K-Glass around the time of its official introduction on the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in February 2014. All articles reporting this event describe the device in very similar words (They are all based on an official news piece from KAIST.[14]) and give a brief overview of the image recognition technology.[2][15][16][17][18][19] No assessment of the device is given in these articles.

The introduction of the improved K-Glass 2 version got some recognition in scientific magazines[9][20] but not on technology enthusiasts websites like the previous prototype. No assessment was given.

The smart glass industry will surely grow as we see the Internet of Things becomes commonplace in the future. In order to expedite the commercial use of smart glasses, improving the user interface (UI) and the user experience (UX) are just as important as the development of compact-size, low-power wearable platforms with high energy efficiency. We have demonstrated such advancement through our K-Glass 2. Using the i-Mouse, K-Glass 2 can provide complicated augmented reality with low power through eye clicking.

—Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo, KAIST introduces a new UI for K-Glass 2 that works with eye blinking. PHYS.org

It is apparent that because the device is undergoing development and it is not yet commercially available, media attention has been minimal so far.

Public Policy

There is no public policy that considers this device specifically.

For more information about policies related to smartglasses, please see the Smartglasses synopsis.

Related Technologies, Projects or Scientific Research

International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), February 9-13, 2014, San Francisco[21]

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), February 23-25, 2015, San Francisco[22]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology [online]. Available online at: http://www.kaist.edu/html/en/ (Retrieved 15 December)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 KAIST developed an extremely low-powered, high-performance head-mounted display embedding an augmented reality chip. Research: asia research news [online]. 2014, 17 February. Available online at: http://www.researchsea.com/html/article.php/aid/8078/cid/1/research/science/researchsea/kaist_developed_an_extremely_low-powered__high-performance_head-mounted_display_embedding_an_augmented_reality_chip.html (Retrieved 15 December 2015)
  3. 3.0 3.1 JI-HYE, Shin. K-Glass to be unveiled in 2015. The Korea Herald [online]. 2014, 2 July. Available online from: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140702000859 (Retrieved 15 December 2015)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 KIM, Gyeonghoon; CHOI, Sungpill; YOO, Hoi-Jun. K-glass: Real-time markerless augmented reality smart glasses platform. In: Industrial Technology (ICIT), 2015 IEEE International Conference on. IEEE, 2015. p. 1712-1717.
  5. RAWLINS, Lauren Kate. Smart glasses that work with a wink. ITWeb Limited [online]. Johannesburg, 2015, 24 March. Available online at: http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content (Retrieved 15 December 2015)
  6. 6.0 6.1 Hoi-Jun Yoo. Semiconductor System Lab [online]. Available online at: http://ssl.kaist.ac.kr/2007/sub3_1.php (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  7. http://phys.org/news/2014-02-low-powered-high-speed-head-mounted-augment-reality.html
  8. Development of K-Glass 2 that Tracks User's Gaze. Research Achievement. KAIST Electrical Engineering [online]. School of Electrical Engineering, 2015, 26 July. Available online at: https://www.ee.kaist.ac.kr/eng/article.do?tableid=esub07_08_01 (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 KAIST introduces a new UI for K-Glass 2 that works with eye blinking. Phys.org [online]. 2015, March 12. Available online at: http://phys.org/news/2015-03-kaist-ui-k-glass-eye.html (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  10. KASIPR. K-Glass 2 with i-Mouse (UI). 11 March 2015. Available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaYtYK9E7p0 (Retrieved 15 December 2015)
  11. KAIST Electrical Engineering [online]. School of Electrical Engineering. KAIST 291, Daejeon. Available online at: https://www.ee.kaist.ac.kr/eng/main.do (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  12. Gyeonghoon Kim. Semiconductor System Lab [online]. School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KAIST 291. Available online at: http://ssl.kaist.ac.kr/2007/sub3_3_24.php (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  13. Sungpill Choi. Semiconductor System Lab [online]. School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KAIST 291. Available online at: http://ssl.kaist.ac.kr/2007/sub3_3_38.php (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  14. 홍보실. KAIST developed an extremely low-powered, high-performance head-mounted display embedding an augmented reality chip. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology [online]. 2014, 20 February. Available online at: http://www.kaist.edu/_prog/_board/?mode=V&no=15762&code=ed_news&site_dvs_cd=en&menu_dvs_cd=0601&list_typ=B&skey=&sval=&smonth=&site_dvs=&GotoPage (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  15. DAVIES, Chris. K-Glass AR chip promises all-day wearables using human eye tricks. SlashGear [online]. 2014, 18 February. Available online at: http://www.slashgear.com/k-glass-ar-chip-promises-all-day-wearables-using-human-eye-tricks-18317316/ (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  16. LAVARS, Nick. K-Glass smart glasses mimic the human brain to improve energy efficiency. Gizmag [online]. 2014, 19 February. Available online at: http://www.gizmag.com/k-glass-smart-glass/30904/ (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  17. Low-powered, high-speed head-mounted display with augment reality chip. Phys.org [online]. 2014, 18 February. Available online at: http://phys.org/news/2014-02-low-powered-high-speed-head-mounted-augment-reality.html (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  18. K-Glass: Extremely low-powered, high-performance head-mounted display embedding an augmented reality chip. Science Daily [online]. 2014, 17 February. Available online at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140217084420.htm (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  19. JOOSTING, Jean-Pierre. Smart glasses base augmented reality on human vision. Microwave Engineering Europe [online]. European Business Press SA, 2014, 20 February. Available online at: http://microwave-eetimes.com/en/smart-glasses-base-augmented-reality-on-human-vision.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222904745 (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  20. KAIST introduces a new UI for K-Glass 2 that works with eye blinking. EurekAlert! [online]. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2015, 12 March. Available online at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-03/tkai-kia031215.php (Retrieved 17 December 2015)
  21. KIM, Gyeonghoon, et al. A 1.22 TOPS and 1.52 mW/MHz Augmented Reality Multicore Processor With Neural Network NoC for HMD Applications. Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of, 2015, 50.1: 113-124.
  22. VIDEO ARCHIVE: 2015 Demo Sessions: 18.1: A 2.71nJ/Pixel 3D-Stacked Gaze-Activated Object-Recognition System for Low-Power Mobile HMD Applications. International Solid-State Circuits Conference [online]. San Francisco, California, United States of America, 2015. Available online at: http://isscc.org/videos/2015_ids.html (Retrieved 17 December 2015)