'Smart sunglasses' aren't just for tech geeks

Smart glasses that you wouldn't be embarrassed to wear in public. That's the premise of Vuzix's new Blade 3000 augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, on display recently at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

Developers Vuzix has been building wearable computing devices since the company's inception in 1997, starting with head-mounted displays for the military. Recent models are worn like eyeglasses and enable the user to view and interact with video and digital content, including movies, video games, computer data and the Internet; all of which appear as 3D floating holograms. Vuzix's Blade 3000 model uses their proprietary waveguide optics and Cobra II display engine to create what the company believes is a game-changer for smart glasses.

"These lenses that are inside of these are as thin as reading glasses, you inject an image into them that is great big so when you look through them floating out in front of you, projected in space, is the image," Vuzix's president Paul Travers told Reuters at MWC, adding: "These optics in these systems literally change the complete paradigm; people will wear these walking down the street."

Augmented reality (AR) has generally struggled to find its place away from video games, such as the popular smartphone-based Pokemon GO. Alphabet Inc.'s much-heralded Google Glass gadget was greeted with enthusiasm among tech aficionados when it was first unveiled in 2012. But the device, which allows users to access e-mail messages on its eye-level screen and to record video with a tiny camera, quickly ran into problems. Some mocked its awkward appearance, while others expressed concern it could be used to make video recordings surreptitiously. Google stopped selling Glass to consumers in 2015.

"One of the most famous versions of these, probably you think of Google Glass. And when you wore Google Glass it was this thing that stuck out in front of you, it was right there with a camera in your face. Folks even got a really poor name when they would wear them because you kind of look like a tech head," said Travers.

While smart glasses have generally struggled to crack the consumer market, several companies are pursuing the tech for industrial use. These include the Daqri Smart Helmet that relays data and work instructions to the wearer through a protective visor. Vuzix, however, are hoping to elevate smart glass technology into people's everyday lives.

"If you're in a warehouse, you're a field service guy, you've got tools on your belt, you've got a hard hat on; it didn't really matter if you had this Bluetooth connected smart glass sitting on the side of your head. In the consumer space that would never fly," said Travers.

The Blade 3000s have an integrated HD camera, head-motion tracker, tactile haptic vibration feedback, and built-in noise cancelling mics with speech recognition. It's gesture controlled, using an integrated touch pad at the temple. Crucially, they look much like a pair of fashionable sunglasses.

"Building smart glasses that are the size of a pair of Oakley-style sunglasses and having full computers built into them is not easy. The company has over a hundred patents and patents-pending, they make these ultra-thin lenses. This... has a quad-core processor in it, it runs Android 5.0, it has an 8 megapixel camera that looks out into the real world. This is basically a smartphone but in the form of a pair of glasses. Nobody has been able to do this yet. There's competitors out there with these big bulky things, heavy etcetera. These things [the Blade 3000s] are 2.8 ounces - they're as light as a conventional pair of sunglasses, everything in; including the batteries," said Travers, adding that a single charge will last all day with normal use, though energy intensive use, such as watching a movie, would drain the battery much quicker.

The Blade 3000 will be released in the second half of 2017. It will launch at cost of under $1000 USD, though Vuzix says the price will ultimately be less than $500.

Last month, Vuzix announced a major partnership with Toshiba Corporation to build a customised pair of smart glasses. Further details on the new smart glasses product are being kept under wraps, but Vuzix says the deal could represent purchase orders of up to hundreds of thousands of devices annually. — Reuters