The arrival of 5G, followed by advancements in Augmented Reality and the need for a more efficient workforce are driving the popularity of smartglasses. Their popularity is rising so rapidly that some experts believe smartglasses could kill smartphones in the next few years. Companies like Vuzix, Bose, North and even snapchat are offering smartglasses that look so stylish that everyone would love to have one. Here are a few of them:
Vuzix
Vuzix is a Rochester, NY-based technology firm that manufactures wearable display technology, virtual reality and augmented reality. Vuzix personal display devices are used for mobile and immersive augmented reality applications, such as 3D gaming, manufacturing training, and military tactical equipment. The company’s products include M100 smartglasses, M300 smartglasses, M300XL smartglasses and Vuzix Blade.
Their latest product, the Blade uses Texas Instruments DLP Pico display, which is bright enough to be seen both indoors and in outdoor sunlight, with support for prescription inserts and multiple lens colors.
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North
Thalmic Labs changed its name to ‘North’ and has come up with a great idea to stop you from looking at your smartwatches every few minutes. The company launched a pair of AR smartglasses called ‘Focals,’ which will show all your notifications right in front of your eyes so you won’t have to look at your smartwactch. What sets Focal apart from other Augmented Reality glasses is that it doesn’t have a screen, instead just light filters through. Founder Stephen Lake calls it “a holographic lens that never existed before.” The holographic display appears at arm’s length. It’s off by default, and wakes up only when it has something urgent to tell you, or if you ask it to, reports Vox.
The Focal’s foundational principles is very much similar to Google Glass. They both use a tiny projector to reflect the image onto the wearer’s fovea, the part of the retina with the sharpest vision. This is how the glass is able to give you a clear image despite being in such close proximity to the eye.
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Tencent
Tencent, the Chinese social media giant, known for its messaging app WeChat, has launched video-recording sunglasses, called Weishi smart glasses that looks very much like the US-based social media Snap’s “face-camera” Spectacles gadget. Produced by Shenzhen-based company called Tonot, Tencent’s Weishi glasses come with a camera in the front corner which enables users to film from a first-person perspective.
Bose
Bose, a company known for making speakers, announced a revolutionary smartglasses called Frames. The smartglasses combine the style of premium sunglasses, performance of wireless headphones, and the world’s first audio augmented reality platform. Frames take micro-acoustics and voice control to an entirely new level, debuting the future of mobile sound in the tiniest, thinnest, most lightweight Bose system ever. With a proprietary open-ear design, Frames can stream music and information, take and make calls, and access virtual assistants – while keeping playlists, entertainment, and conversations private.
