SANTA CLARA, CA – June 2, 2013 –  AugmentedReality.org, the producer of Augmented World Expo, the world’s largest gathering of augmented reality (AR) professionals, today announced the opening of a unique exhibition highlighting 35 years of AR eyewear and wearable computing in the Santa Clara Convention Center on June 3rd and 4th.

The exhibition, entitled “Thirty Five Years of Head-­Worn Displays and Wearable Computing: A Special Retrospective,” will feature the largest collection of personal display devices ever assembled, with 25 unique head-­mounted personal displays spanning more than 35 years. This showcase event examines the notion that a major search engine company may not really be the first company to introduce personal displays that you wear on your head.

The exhibition underscores the idea that now is a unique time to explore the evolution of the personal head-worn display and wearable technology category, from a perspective of engineering, functionality, industrial design and usability.  It also highlights the importance of looking into the future to contemplate how these technologies will completely change the way humans interact with the physical world.

The collection will include original artifacts from the world’s first wearable computers and augmented reality vision systems and legacy products developed for the consumer market from Vuzix, Microvision, Reflection Technology, Micro Optical, Virtual IO, Sony, Minolta, myVu, and others.

The event is open to all Augmented World Expo attendees with a general Expo pass. This is the second stop of the traveling exhibit, which will go on a global tour to create worldwide awareness to the evolution of augmented reality eyewear as humanity enters the era of wearable computing. The next stop of the exhibit will be at the VeillanCeNTRE in conjunction with IEEE ISTAS 2013, opening June 26th.

The showcase is sponsored by Meta, a startup developing the first device allowing visualization and interaction with 3D virtual objects in the real world using your hands. It was made possible by the generous contribution from the private collections of Paul Travers, Dan Cui, Steven Feiner, Steve Mann, and Chris Grayson, and passionate volunteers who are helping advance the industry.

The exhibit will coincide with the launch of the AR Eyewear Working Group discussion which will bring together the world’s leaders in the field to join forces in advancing AR to advance humanity.

For more details on the fourth annual Augmented World Expo (Formerly ARE) click HERE.

Special thanks to the volunteers who helped bring the vision to life: Pete Wassell, Chris Grayson, Christine Perey, Vincent Lee, Pamela Vitale, Borislava Krasteva, Ryan Janzen, and Drew Austin.

Before, Augmate, Pete was a Program Director at IBM, he managed Digital Media Distribution products and Content Management Systems at IBM’s Los Angeles and Silicon Valley Labs. In other roles, he managed IBM’s PartnerWorld Program containing 115,000 Business Partners, ran Operations and Executive Relations for ibm.com and has been a Project Management Professional in IBM Global Services.
Pete graduated at the top of his class (presidential scholar) at Clarkson University’s engineering school, he also graduated from the JFK Special Warfare School (Special Forces) in the military, and has been a Elected Lawmaker (Legislator) & Policy Creator who has passed over one thousand laws in Dutchess County, New York.