Sony's New Augmented Reality Glasses Cost $840

A developer edition of Sony's Google Glass-style augmented reality glasses are now available to pre-purchase from the company's online store. At $840, they are less expensive than Google Glass, but they are somewhat awkward-looking and appear to be bulky.

Officially called the SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1, the glasses are available now for preorder and will starting shipping next month in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan for $840, £520, €670, or ¥100,000.

Sony's smart glasses aren't all that different in form from regular specs, only they have a transparent screen in the lenses that allow you to see notifications for email and more sitting directly in front of your eyes.

The SmartEyeglass headset weighs 77 grams (2.7 ounces), and also must be connected to a hockey puck-sized control unit that carries that battery, speaker, microphone, and touch controls. The glasses also feature a built-in 3 MP camera. Battery life is approximately 150 minutes for continuous use or around 80 minutes for continuous use with the camera on.

Check out the video above to see the headset in action.

Sony claims its AR glasses will offer a "new world" of hands-free possibilities. For example, users might be able to wear the glasses at a sporting event and have extra data about the game beamed to them. The SmartEyeglass technology is also capable of providing navigation directions that intelligently respond to exactly where you are at any moment.

These are only possible use-cases, Sony cautions. The company hopes that by releasing the SmartEyeglass headset to developers, they will in turn create the apps and services for it.

After a limited trial run, Google stopped selling its $1,500 Glass prototype earlier this year.

In addition to the SmartEyeglass headset, Sony is working on a virtual reality helmet called Project Morpheus for PlayStation 4. This headset was announced during the Game Developers Conference in 2014, though Sony hasn't said much about it since.

Meanwhile, competitor Microsoft in January revealed Windows Holographic, a new VR/AR technology that the company says could have major implications for gaming.

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