The extended reality (XR) market has been experiencing a boom as of late, with companies like XREAL, Rokid and even Apple launching new XR-related products. While hailing from different companies, these devices are similar in that they are closed source and can get quite pricey; but Brilliant Labs is taking a new approach with their AR device, the Monocle, as is open source and more affordable than competitors.

In addition, the device packs a different form factor than what we've been used to. Rather than being a whole headset, the Monocle works by clipping it onto your own glasses (like its namesake) to provide a heads-up display. Enclosed in the device is a host of sensors and components, including a 720p camera, touch sensor and micro OLED display, all weighing 15g. The display output is at 640x400 resolution with a 20° FOV and can be programmed through a web interface.

Currently, the Monocle needs to be paired to a smartphone to activate some cloud-based apps but Brilliant Labs aims to eventually do away with a phone host. The company has also recently received new investments to further pursue its AR goals.

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Costing $349, the Monocle has already started shipping to consumers, but the target is mainly developers, tinkerers and early adopters who already amount to 2,000 in the Discord community. The device can thus be mostly considered as a dev kit but some interesting applications have been developed, with the latest being from Brilliant Labs itself. The company has launched arGPT for the Monocle, a ChatGPT integration that enables users to interact with and experience ChatGPT commands right from their eyes. The video below shows the new app in action:

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It would be interesting to see further gaming and general uses of this tech, as devices like the Nreal Air have become popular for mirroring game consoles' display on a larger, virtual screen. As commands on arGPT can range from games recommendations to game walkthroughs, the Monocle could become a gaming companion for such use cases; or maybe even have dedicated text-based games. As this is an open-source device, its potential lies within the community input and we'll likely come across more software for the Monocle in the near future.

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[TiredNModding7]

Intriguing. Wonder how this would work with how the human brain handles vision overlap, like would you see the displayed text closer to the side, or center of your vision? Still pretty cool, though.