Baidu, which is often refered to as Google of China, is out with its own wearable eye gear. Dubbed Baidu Eye, this device doesn’t look like Google Glass but it does deliver some of the same features without that small screen sitting in the corner of the eye.

Unveiled at the Baidu World conference, the device can recognize voice commands and identify objects that are in the viewing range of its side camera. That camera will also be able to react to certain gestures such as “expanding to zoom” or “circling an object with your finger.” What’s more, the Eye is also capable of discovering products on e-commerce websites by just viewing them with its camera.

Baidu Eye can recognize voice commands and identify objects that are in the viewing range of its side camera.The lack of a built-in display will “force” users to turn to their phones to see the information, but at the same time – they’ll get to benefit from the increased battery life. It is suggested that the Eye has enough energy to last for up to two hours of video recording whereas Google Glass can only retain charge for 45 minutes when recording.

The Baidu Eye is still in the prototype phase and we yet have to hear a thing about its release date and pricing. Chances are it won’t be cheap but it also won’t be as nearly as expensive as Google Glass.

Alas, the hardware is just one piece of the puzzle; it’s usually software that makes for all the difference. Considering Baidu’s scale and reach in the world’s most populous country, we’re sure that a number of companies will jump on board to launch their apps, and eventually bring the Eye to many places, hospitals included.

Meanwhile, we expect Google to unveil its second generation Glass product that will introduce new features, helping the search giant reach new clients and markets. We’ll see how that goes…

[Via: HiFiPublic]