Telepathy One headset emerges as legit Google Glass competitor

That Telepathy One is a device very similar to Google Glass comes as no surprise. Over the next six months, we’re going to be exposed to dozens of wearable gadgets that will look like and act just like Google’s much-hyped new product.

Instead, what’s newsworthy about Telepathy One is that it stands the very real chance of giving Google Glass a run for its money. 

Telepathy One is being positioned as a communications headset that stands a real chance of competing against Google Glass.

You see, Telepathy One isn’t a total rip-off of Google Glass. There are actually a couple of fairly noticeable differences between the two. The most major is that Telepathy One does not have a glass display. Instead, the device comes with a micro projector that displays things like Facebook updates, text messages, e-mails, and more, on a virtual 5-inch display projected in front of the eye. 

That Telepathy One does not have a piece of glass upon which to display images is one of the more noticeable differences between the product and Google’s device.

In terms of sound, the device utilizes in-ear speakers, whereas Google Glass uses a bone conduction transducer to transmit sound.

Now, in terms of similarities to Google Glass, Telepathy One includes an integrated camera to record video and capture photos. It also connects to portable devices, whether it is a smartphone or tablet, via Bluetooth, and apps / programs are controlled via voice commands, touch, and hand gestures.

So who’s behind this newfangled device? Takahito Iguchi, a smartphone app developer who is also the former Tonchidot CEO and is perhaps best known for having invented an augmented reality smartphone app, Sekai Camera. 

Iguchi wearing his Telepathy One headset.

It took Iguchi about two months to create the wearable communications device. Once he had a working prototype, he brought it to this year’s SXSW show, and asked random users to try it out. Their reactions were recorded in the video below.

Iguchi is positioning his Telepathy One device as the less-power-hungry and more-natural-feeling alternative to Google Glass. While that’s all well and good, neither an official price nor an expected release date has been announced, so everything’s still somewhat speculative. 

 
Telepathy One is meant to feel like a natural device for the user to wear.

The one thing we can go on, though, is quotes, and Iguchi has been pretty consistent across several interviews in saying that the device will be less expensive than Google Glass and that he wants to see his product make it to market before the Christmas 2013 season.

Learn more about Telepathy One at tele-pathy.org