North tries to become the Warby Parker augmented reality glasses

Although few people really seem to want to wear smart glasses or goggles – think of Google Glass or Snapchat Shows – a startup thinks it has found the recipe for success in augmented reality. North, which has just changed its name to Thalmic Labs, today launches its first product, Focals, with the goal of creating a set of Warby Parker-esque stores with numerous connected glasses. He tries to create the first pair of "smart glasses everyday".

When I meet Stephen Lake, CEO of North, in the company's new store in Brooklyn, New York, which was still under construction, he is wearing Focals. I immediately scan his face to see where the screen is and install me on a small dot on the right lens of his glasses that looks like a stain. The photopolymer material that serves as a display location is generally not visible, but when it captures the light, it appears that the glasses need to be wiped.

I came to the store to try out the Focals buying experience for myself and to see what a whole lot of smart and casual glasses consist of. The glasses show users a lot of information from their phone; can call an Uber; and are extremely customizable to the point of requiring a 3D model of each wearer's face to make them work.

Lake and his team explained the process of buying, which involves sitting in a dark room surrounded by 16 cameras and an attendant. I had to put my hair back in a cotton headband (which I had to keep!) And align my face with a pair of software-created glasses on a screen. The cameras then took several photos simultaneously to create a 3D model of my ears, nose, eyes and face. I'm sure it's really attractive!

Picture of Ashley Carman / The Verge

The first scan did not work. The operator had to ask me a separate plastic headband that allowed the software to follow my ears.

Photo of The Verge

It worked, finally. And now, I could actually try a pair of Focals.

Each Focals pair includes a tiny color laser in the right arm that displays information from your phone via Bluetooth. This laser bounces off a piece of photopolymer material embedded in the right lens of the telescope, then points to your eye. It creates a 15-degree viewing area of ​​approximately 300 x 300 pixels.

The glasses work in much the same way as the Intel Vaunt smart glasses project in that they take advantage of the retinal projection, which means that the image they display shines in the back of your retina, leaving everything in the center. You can wear Focals with or without a prescription or with contacts. However, focal lengths will not work with bifocals and can only process prescriptions between +2 and -4.

Photo of Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

North has created custom software for the glasses and designed the user interface in-house. It's colorful with light animations that I think are good. You can view your messages, send automated answers developed by North via SMS, call an Uber, get a detailed route via Mapbox, view your calendar and check the weather.

The image will automatically disappear after three seconds of non-use, which I hope can be magnified, but the North team appreciates the idea of ​​a non-intrusive technology that keeps us "focused on the real world" .

Picture of Ashley Carman / The Verge

According to North, each pair has enough battery to last 18 hours and can only be recharged via its companion case. This case also allows you to load the essential Focals accessory: the buckle. The Loop is a plastic ring with a joystick-like button that looks like any plastic ring you've seen on the market. It's a bulky object that does not look so pretty, but it allows users to slide through the interface of their glasses without having to touch their glasses or do anything with the head. A ring seems more logical, although it is ugly.

You can scroll through your notifications by tapping left or right on the Loop controller and pressing to make a selection. You can also use it to trigger Amazon's Alexa Assistant because yes, Alexa is integrated. The glasses have a microphone and a speaker inside, so you can give orders to Alexa and hear the answers if necessary. (Amazon was a major investor in North B Series financing.)

Photo of Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

As for the glasses themselves, they are quite elegant. They come in two styles and three colors, and each includes a pair of sunglass lenses to clip in black or copper. It's not a wide range of styles, but they are far from the nerd levels of Google Glass or even Snap Shows.

Everything about the glasses needs to be personalized. Lake told me that North runs a huge plant in Canada where they process orders and fit mounts and glasses to each carrier. Keep in mind that you must keep the display directly in your field of view, otherwise it will disappear. These measures are therefore essential to the success of glasses.

Photo of Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The demo pair I tried had a few flops, like Alexa who did not immediately respond to my orders, but I did not hate this experience. It's the most enjoyable AR demo I've ever had and it's certainly more soothing than virtual reality. It's manageable. That said, I would be interested to test the glasses at night to see the brightness of the projector. I am also sad to have to wear this plastic ring for the glasses to work.

And the price is high. One pair costs $ 999, which includes lenses, prescription, anti-reflective coatings and equipment. You can apply for insurance money against it, but it still represents a lot of money, especially considering that eyeglass wearers like to have multiple pairs of cheaper frames. It will be on sale in the Brooklyn store or at another location in Toronto, Ontario. Once everything is operational, orders will take about two weeks. The first pairs will be distributed this year around the holidays, even if only in the classic setting. The round frame will be delivered in 2019, as well as prescription lenses.

A laser projected into my retina looks like a futuristic thing, of course, and I would not be surprised if more companies started to explore this space. It's at least nicer than watching an extremely bright screen all day long. But I do not think every company will value a discrete interface, as North says. So, once the glasses do not sleep automatically after three seconds, a screen floating in front of my face all day may not be so great.

Correction 10/23, 8:34 ET: An earlier version of this article referred to North as North Labs in some cases. We regret the mistake.