An enterprising geek has whipped up what may be the most interesting meshing of two gadgets I’ve ever seen.
Essentially, Thomas Sohmers used the Epson Moverio BT-100 transparent video glasses and a Parrot AR.Drone to create an awesome method of controlling the ‘copter and viewing its video feed the same time.
The BT-100 glasses boast a transparent video display, allowing users to watch video as they move around. They are also equipped with a handheld control that runs Android, which Sohmers hacked to operate the AR.Drone.
The control system does have a few caveats, though. For example, the hacked BT-100 controller can only make the AR.Drone move up and down and rotate left or right. Unfortunately, the system is currently unable to offer complete control over the flying toy at this point, although Sohmers says he is working to improve the hack.
Basically, the AR.Drone sets up its own ad hoc Wi-Fi network, which the BT-100 glasses are able to connect to. As you can see in the video, it takes several minutes to actually connect the glasses with the flying toy. Once the Wi-Fi connection is complete, Sohmers controls the drone’s altitude and where the camera is pointing. I would say this is certainly one of the cooler hacks for the AR.Drone that I’ve seen yet.
