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Smart glasses are arguably the wearable with the most promise for discreet data consumption, and North – formerly known as Thalmic Labs – believes we'll pay $ 1,000 for custom set of specs to deliver that. The company previously tried to corner the wearable market with a totally different limb, offering the motion-tracking Myo armband. Now, it's back for your face.
Relaunched as North, the debut product is Focals. At first glance you'd be forgiven for assuming they were a regular pair of glasses; indeed, that minimal tech look is there by design. The last thing North wants to go to Google Glass.
However, much like Glass, the digital interface is designed to float in front of your right eye. Rather than a chunky projection block, however, it uses a small patch on the right lens. A laser projector beams information about a small, circular patch in your line of sight.
The result, North says, is a holographic display that seems to float roughly an arm's length in front of you. It's still transparent, so it's enough to deliver text messages, turn-by-turn directions, weather reports, and calendar reminders. It will also deliver key app features, like summoning an Uber, and allow you to interact with Amazon Alexa.
Alexa is controlled by voice, obviously, but Focals' interface in general is operated by a ring that the company has dubbed Loop. It allows you to surreptitiously swipe your way through the UI with its 4-direction joystick, as well as Alexa summa.
The result is a simple interface based on Android running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, with just the digital essentials presented. You're not going to read an ebook on Focals, or browse through your website or through your Instagram feed. What you might do is read an SMS and reply to voice over, or search for a location and get low-key navigation directions there so that you do not look like such a tourist in a new city. Speakers can play back responses, too.
Intel's Vaunt, the ill-fated smart glasses project by the chip-maker that was axed back in April. As with North's eyewear, Intel is planning to take a closer look at the site, rather than masses of data. But Intel's goal is to build a business selling its low-power chips to the people actually making glasses, and that proved too risky a bet to take.
North believes people are in fact, willing to pay for smart glasses now, and at a premium. They're priced at $ 999, including a custom fitting session at North's Brooklyn, NY, Toronto gold, Canada showrooms. Each set is custom-sized to the wearer's face, since the display must be perfectly lined-up with their eyes.
There will be several different styles, though only the classic frames will be end of 2018. The rest, including Round frames, will follow in 2019, as will prescription lenses. In the box you'll get the Focals, Loop, sun clips, and a charging case. A full load should last around 18 hours, and the box will have enough battery inside to recharge the Focals at a few times.
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