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These smart glasses offer a glimpse at the future Apple and Facebook are planning

by Mike Robinson

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Avegant, an innovative start-up based in San Mateo California has created an LED light-engine which could allow manufacturers of smart glasses to make small stylish, augmented-reality devices.

Avegant

Avegant’s prototype smart glasses gave me an insight into the future. I was able to see how we might be able, through traditional shades, to view videos, receive directions and get notifications.

This type of glasses might be next big thing, as many companies, such as Apple, Snap and Amazon, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Apple, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, Apple and others, look beyond their phones.

I’ve worn GoogleGlass Microsoft Hololens, Snap’sThe latest additions to the Spectacles collection are: Facebook’sRay-Ban Stories sunglasses All of these have their flaws. These glasses are either too bulky and heavy to be worn everywhere (Hololens), they don’t display any information on the lenses yet (Facebook) nor do they look funny (Spectacles. Hololens. Google Glass.

If they want to succeed, big tech companies will require smart glasses that allow them to appear normal. Avegant CEO Edward Tang said that they are desperately searching for small display components that can be made and shipped within the next year. 

Avegant does not make smart glasses. However, it did create a prototype pair of them to show the potential of its new LED augmented reality light engine. The company released the prototype to the public in the fall. It was impressive.

These are the facts.

Current smart glasses are not the solution

Many companies make smart glasses. However, they all have different strategies. It is quite a mess. Here’s a quick recap:

Avegant believes it may have a solution to help businesses build products that people want to purchase.

Its light engine weighs less than a pencil but is as thin as a pen and as heavy as a large piece of paper. The new engine fits into the hinges and temples of eyeglasses, where it can provide high-definition visuals. Companies that do not have large hardware engineering teams may be able to make glasses with the light engine that look as good as Ray-Bans and offer all of the vision capabilities found in sci-fi films such as “Terminator” or similar.

A peek into the future

Tang gave me his prototype glasses and I was able to demo the light engine. These glasses looked normal, but they were thinner than any other pair. They could be attached to smartphones by cables. It is an example of how small Avegant can shrink a pair glasses.

Tang explained that they are in the process of getting their stuff prepared to present the most manufacturable product for customers. 

I put the glasses on. At the centre of my field, a transparent blue square appeared. This showed me a display overlaid with what I saw in real life. And then the demo began. 

The glasses started to change visuals. I was shown the weather, stock chart, and text conversation on a small transparent screen. The visuals appeared above Tang in clear clarity. I could also see Tang when I looked in his direction. This was augmented reality. 

It was the video that the glasses played. This was the highlight of the demo. This was just a small portion of the Euro 2020 soccer tournament. The green grass and large crowd, as well as the passing of the ball between the players was all I could see before the goalkeeper smashed the ball into the net. As if it were a game I could watch at home or at the bar with my friends, this match looked just as great and large.

Avegant’s light engine has a 30 degree field of view, and it appeared as a rectangular in my line of vision.

Tang took the glasses from me and put them on. While I was unable to tell he was looking at anything, I saw a faint hint of blue light in the lens. He seemed to be daydreaming.

There are some drawbacks. The Avegant light engine is used by manufacturers. They will need to decide how long their smart glasses should last. A glasses that have a longer battery life will become heavier. A 30-degree field of vision is similar to Microsoft’s Hololens. However, it has a smaller view area than Microsoft’s Hololens.

This is the reality

Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories glasses let you take photos or videos with the camera at each corner.

Ashley Bogdan

Avegant components may be used by tech companies to create smart glasses they will love. It’s early and some skeptics doubt that we will soon have smart glasses with normal looks.

Kevin Irwin is chief investment officer of Knollwood Investment. He stated that the long-term goal was to eliminate your smartphone from your hands and wear it on your face. Avegant’s Irwin investor. 

Avegant’s light engine is still not mass produced. Avegant plans to create a business model that will allow it to sell components to manufacturers who can integrate them into smart glasses.

Expert on Augmented Reality Display Devices, Karl Guttag, said that larger businesses may not require Avegan’s technology.

“Facebook and Apple are ground-up companies — they’ve got phenomenal, huge teams working on this stuff,” Guttag said. They don’t require an Avegant, but a Snap may because they aren’t really interested in this. They’d want to buy a part.

Guttag is also skeptical about smart glasses being able to replace smartphones in the immediate future. This would severely limit Avegant’s chances of success. 

Guttag stated that “the expectation that these items will be like Ray-Bans” was far too high. Avegant’s engine could be a good example of what you can get, which would make it moderately fashionable. The engine will be larger and heavier, but it won’t stop there.

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