Printer Technology Round-Up: Virtual Reality, Goggles, and Pocket Printing

Does new technology makes life easier or just more interesting? We’ve gathered news about a few new gadgets that have hit the market recently. Read about tiny printers, augmented reality goggles and mixed reality goggles. Let us know if you hope to add them to your tech arsenal in the future.

Mixed Reality

Canon has recently coined this phrase to describe their new set of goggles. Unlike other wearable tech this product is not designed to look sleek though. Instead, this big, bulky headset is aimed at businesses looking to see a product before it is actually built. The goggles are mainly aimed at high-end auto industries because wearers are able to see uncreated car concepts in great detail before production. Although the market for Canon’s mixed reality goggles is very limited, it is the first product of its kind. Read more here.

Augmented Reality

With a twist on virtual reality, Epson has also created smart goggles. They are a little more sleek, a lot more lightweight, and also more available to individual consumers, unlike Canon’s version. These goggles use an LCD-based projection lens system to overlay digital content into the real world visible through the lenses. They also use AR apps to give the user relevant information on their current surroundings such as weather predictions or directions to the best coffee shop within walking distance. Is your interest piqued? Read more.

Pocket-Sized Printing…Almost

An Israeli team has developed a portable printer that is about the size of a softball. It’s a little big for most pockets, but nonetheless, the first of its size. You can now print documents even on the go. The tiny device starts in the corner of a piece of paper and rolls ink across the page as it moves on multi-directional wheels. It has about an hours worth of battery life and can print about 1,000 pages before the ink cartridge will need to be replaced. All of this sounds pretty handy, but this product has yet to hit the consumer market. Read more about it.

What do you think? Do any of these gadgets look life-changing to you? Or at least interesting enough?