Vuzix: a strong response to Google Glass
Smart glasses that look like classic eyewear: the lens is the screen Despite all the enthusiasm about smart glasses, they don't actually look like classic eyewear. This summer, Vuzix – the developer of wearable visualization technology for military and industrial applications - will distribute slim, wraparound sunglasses that enable the wearer to see graphics overlaid on objects in the real world. Vuzix CEO Paul Travers explained that his company's sunglasses will not only be less cumbersome and showy than Google Glass, but they will also give an augmented reality experience similar to what was seen in the Google Glass promotion video, where small amounts of useful information, such as navigating hints, are shown in the center of the field of vision. Currently, this is not possible with Google Glass because the display is positioned above and to the side of the right eye, and is also the visual equivalent of a 25 inch high-definition television viewed from a distance of two meters. Anyone trying to create glasses with an integrated computer has similar problems, Travers explained: "Appearance and perception are two of them. Another problem is the use of the interface." Vuzix technology was conceived to tackle both challenges by taking advantage of relatively recent progress in the ability to control light movement on nanometric scale. With traditional optics, projecting images on the center of the user's field of vision would require very much thicker lenses than those in Google Glass, Travers explained. But the lenses in the Vuzix glasses will be less than two millimeters thick. This is possible because the company uses "waveguide" technology that acts like an optical fiber cable and directs the light to the lens from a slim display mounted in the eyewear temples. There, the light is dispersed in the lenses by nanoscale structures called grids; by varying the way the light is transmitted to the grids, high resolution color images can be produced. Vuzix used this technology for the first time in a recently-launched monocle designed for industrial applications, such as the visualization of technical information about a piece of equipment a technician is repairing. The monocle costs about $6,000 but the sunglasses, Travers explained, will have a "consumer price index". A consumer product can localize and map data or be used for augmented reality games. Vuzix developed the technology through a partnership that began several years ago with Nokia for wearable displays. Since then, Nokia has sold to Vuzix the equipment necessary for producing these displays. Whether Vuzix glasses take off or not, it's obvious that other companies will be competing to create alternatives to Google products. During the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Epson launched its augmented reality glasses. They do not use the nanoimprint lithography technology used by Vuzix to imprint a small grid on the lenses, but more traditional optical technologies. These glasses look more normal than Google Glass, but they are still cumbersome and showy.
