Exploring the Future of FPV Flying and Augmented Reality Wit…

This is a sponsored submit. All opinions and unboxing / flight expertise is reported as my very own, with no enter from the Moverio staff. If you’re serious about ordering the Moverio BT-300 FPV Edition, you are able to do so at this hyperlink. Make positive to make use of the code UAVCOACH to get $100 off the order. You’ll additionally get free transport, and your glasses will include the Rochester Optical Lens free of charge, a $100 worth.

It’s not on daily basis you get to play with a revolutionary piece of expertise.

Pardon the size (and geeky-ness) of this submit. Over the previous couple of days, I’ve had a LOT of enjoyable testing the Epson Moverio BT-300 sensible glasses, particularly whereas flying my DJI Mavic Pro.

To kick issues off, try this quick promo video for the glasses, you’ll get a way of how they can be utilized to fly FPV whereas, at the similar time, to keep up visible line-of-sight along with your drone.

In this submit, I’m going to introduce Moverio’s expertise and write about my experiences flying first-person-view (FPV) with the glasses, and I’ll lay out whether or not or not I believe they’re a very good match for you and your efforts as a drone pilot.

Epson and the History of the Moverio BT-300

You’ve seemingly heard of Epson earlier than.

The juggernaut Japanese electronics firm has been round since 1942. They make printers, however additionally they make a quantity of different cool electronics, together with sensible glasses.

Epson Moverio BT-300 Review Smart Drone Glasses

If you learn as a lot science fiction as I do or have any curiosity in the future of expertise, you shouldn’t have any downside arising with a couple of use instances for a way sensible glasses and augmented actuality can be utilized:

  • Museum excursions
  • Amusement parks / leisure complexes
  • Workplace coaching and distant assist

To offer you an thought of what the sensible glasses ecosystem appears like and what form of tasks the Moverio staff is concerned in, try their checklist of featured integration companions over right here.

But we’re not right here to wax philosophical on superior expertise, wearables, and what form of units humanity shall be interacting with every day sooner or later.

We’re right here to speak about drones!

How Drone Pilots Can Use the Moverio BT-300 Glasses

As a drone pilot, one of the huge operational issues is this idea of line-of-sight flight, the place, both from a regulatory perspective or just simply as a greatest apply, the drone pilot ought to be capable to see the drone whereas flying it always.

Now, I shouldn’t let this submit flip right into a dialogue of BVLOS (flying past visible line-of-sight) and the place the drone business is heading with all of that, however one factor to consider whereas flying drones now could be that so as to see your first-person-view (FPV) display screen, whether or not or not you’re utilizing your telephone, pill, or a built-in display screen, it’s a must to take your eyes off the drone and look down at your palms.

dad learning to fly dji mavic pro drone

Take a take a look at my dad, who I’ve been educating tips on how to fly my DJI Mavic Pro.

He has a tough time toggling again and forth between watching the drone and seeing the iPad display screen slightly below the two joysticks. He could also be smiling on this image, however my guess is that he’s a little bit careworn as nicely. His eyes are glued on to the Mavic Pro in order to not lose focus. Something many of you’ll be able to seemingly relate to.

That’s the place the Moverio BT-300 augmented actuality glasses come into play.

Put on the glasses, join them to your DJI drone, and then the Moverio’s clear show means that you can see key flight statistics, whereas nonetheless sustaining a visible line-of-sight with the plane.

moverio bt-300 drone smart glasses fpv review

Pretty nifty, proper?

Moverio BT-300: Key Product Specs

Here are a couple of of the product specs I wished to name your consideration to:

  • Maintain a transparent line of sight — clear show permits drone pilots to see key flight statistics, whereas nonetheless sustaining visible line of sight with the plane
  • Premier FPV DJI associate — controller comes preloaded with DJI’s well-liked DJI GO App
  • Easily report your drone in flight — front-facing digital camera captures real-time 1080p footage (at 30 fps) of your drone in flight, from the pilot’s level of view
  • Light, comfy match — world’s lightest Si-OLED-powered, binocular, clear sensible glasses1, solely 2.5 oz/69 g; straightforward to put on, even for prolonged durations of time
  • Good visibility in brilliant daylight — consists of an extra-dark shade so there’s no want for a hood; keep visible line of sight along with your drone, even in sunny environments
  • Custom clips to carry the controller in place — securely holds the BT-300FPV controller to the DJI distant (works with Phantom™ three, four and Inspire™ 1 remotes; should purchase a Mavic clip individually)
  • Android-based system — simply browse the Web, play video games and stream content material (doesn’t assist the Google Play™ retailer or different Google® Mobile Services)
  • Prescription glasses-friendly — matches over a variety of prescription eyewear
  • Portable — rechargeable battery (in controller) presents as much as six hours of battery life2; built-in card slot helps detachable microSDHC playing cards as much as 32GB
  • Future-ready — movement sensors, front-facing high-resolution digital camera and the capability to render 3D content material will allow builders to construct next-generation flight experiences

Moverio BT-300: Unboxing & Initial Thoughts / Review

OK, sufficient of the fluff. What’s it like to truly fly with these?

Setting up the glasses

It took me about 5-10 minutes to learn by means of the directions, then one other 20-25 minutes to place the glasses on, get acquainted with the menu and settings, and then to put in the newest firmware, to refresh the app retailer, and to obtain the DJI Go four app onto the glasses.

Connecting to the DJI Mavic Pro

You have to attach the Moverio glasses on to the transmitter through an included USB cable, however aside from that, you flip in your transmitter and then your plane simply as you usually would, you then open up the DJI Go four App from inside the glasses to get began.

Taking Off & Testing

Most of the capabilities which are obtainable on the DJI Go four app that’s accessible in the Google Play or Apple retailer are additionally obtainable on the Moverio glasses. It actually appeared and felt the similar.

testing moverio bt-300 smart drone glasses

My spouse used the sensible glasses to assist me body the shot of our household.

I solely had two points whereas flying that I’d prefer to name out:

  • Focusing. That’s a DJI Mavic-specific subject although, in terms of tapping to focus. Wearing glasses, I wasn’t capable of faucet whereas flying so had a tough time holding issues in focus. Some enhancements have to be made round that, simply undecided if that’s on the Moverio aspect, on the DJI aspect, or possibly I used to be simply lacking one thing.
  • The second subject is with the controller half of the glasses, which have to be held whereas flying. Holding it isn’t sensible, however mounting them to the transmitter positive is. Unfortunately, there’s not a simple approach to do that on the Mavic like there may be the Phantom or Inspire collection, however apparently there’s an additional Mavic mounting accent that takes care of that. I haven’t picked that up but.

I used to be sporting the included Rochester Optical Lenses as nicely, which made it a LOT simpler to see the display screen by means of the glasses and one thing I’d extremely suggest you employ whereas flying.

Powering Down / Storing / Traveling

The glasses and equipment match fairly nicely in a small carrying case. The battery life on the glasses is basically lengthy, one thing like 5-6 hours, sufficient to final a handful of DJI battery cycles 🙂

Final Thoughts

Admittedly, I’m not well-versed in AR / sensible glasses expertise, so I don’t have a very good means of comparability in terms of stacking the Moverio BT-300 glasses as much as different choices. But right here have been a couple of of my key takeaways whereas testing over the final couple of weeks:

They have been a lot lighter than I anticipated and actually comfy, the form of glasses I wouldn’t thoughts sporting for an prolonged interval of time. I’m below the impression that different glasses fashions with related expertise are lots heavier.

They have been additionally a lot simpler to arrange than I had anticipated. I’ve examined sufficient shopper electronics to have affordable expectations in terms of setup time. Frankly, I used to be planning on having to work with their assist staff once I first opened the field. I believed it might have been harder to stand up and working.

It took a while to get used to the viewing display screen. Just like sporting a brand new pair of glasses, issues are a little bit blurry at first, and you may get some slight dizziness whereas working, so its greatest to put on them as a lot as attainable in a non-flight atmosphere earlier than taking to the skies.

It’s not the similar expertise as flying with FPV goggles, like the FatShark or DJI Goggle fashions you could have seen or already flown with. You should mess around with the glasses a bit to get the proper lighting, and with the ability to keep situational consciousness AND fly first-person-view at the similar time is very nice, however toggling again and forth along with your eyes takes a bit of time to get used to. Personally, I’ve by no means felt fully comfortable with full-on goggles and a lot want glasses like these.

Oh, and my mother and dad actually loved enjoying with them 🙂

If you’re serious about ordering the Moverio BT-300 FPV Edition, you are able to do so at this hyperlink. Make positive to make use of the code UAVCOACH to get $100 off the order. You’ll additionally get free transport, and your glasses will include the Rochester Optical Lens free of charge, a $100 worth.

Alan Perlman

Founder & CEO

Alan is an FAA-certified drone pilot and based UAV Coach in 2014 to assist join drone fans, to supply world-class sUAS business coaching programs, and to assist push the drone group ahead with a deal with security and business alternatives.

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