Augmented reality is gaining more ground as a usable technology and it's only set to get bigger this year. The next frontier is all about moving away from smartphone screens and bringing AR into wearables.
Take the new Vuzix Blade AR glasses for instance. For £999 and a four to six-week wait, you can have the ultimate connected device.
The glasses boast a wearable smart display so the wearer has a tiny screen in the lenses with which to see things like directions, weather information or alerts.
You can communicate with the device via voice control, thanks to its Amazon Alexa capability, with Google Assistant support coming in the future.
The Blade glasses run on Android and supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, so you can be connected to your smartphone without having to use it. The high-resolution display screen is designed to work both indoors and out, even in sunlight, and there’s an 8-megapixel camera.
If you need to wear glasses already no fear, prescription inserts are available.
Since Google Glass debuted to a mixed response a few years ago, companies have been trying to create AR glasses that consumers will actually use. Facebook is reportedly working on some, an Amazon-backed start-up Thalmic Labs in North America has two stores selling its wares whilst Apple has some plans in the pipeline too.
Vuzix could be the company to make wearing AR glasses in public more acceptable. It’s been manufacturing AR glasses for a while – usually for companies to use, but the consumer version is already making waves. The Blaze glasses recently picked up the CES 2019 Innovation award for outstanding design and engineering – that’s the big consumer tech show that’s about to kick off in Las Vegas.
The reviews for the Vuzix Blade glasses are promising too. They’ve been described as “the next-gen Google Glass we’ve all been waiting for,” and as making “AR glasses look better than ever, in more ways than one.”
At that high price point though, AR glasses are not going to become a ubiquitous product just yet. Sure they may be the same price as an iPhone XS but a smartphone is, at the moment, a more necessary purchase. Yet if this wearable proves a success, it could lead to more companies bringing AR glasses to market, helping to propel the devices into the mainstream.
It looks like Vuzix’s Blade AR glasses are showing us the future.
