January 8, 2019
DigiLens AR Smartglasses Hands on – Smartglasses are not dead
At CES 2019 at Pepcom we took a look at the DigiLens AR glasses for professional applications, which shows us that smartglasses are very much alive.
At CES 2019 at Pepcom we took a look at the DigiLens AR glasses for professional applications, which shows us that smartglasses are very much alive.
Pokemon Go with glasses could soon become an affordable reality. Silicon Valley startup Digilens unveiled DigiLens Crystal, a reference platform that gives OEM’s a customizable, cost-effective waveguide-based AR eyeglass style solution for both workforce and consumer applications.
The Sunnyvale, California-based startup is showing its new Crystal AR glasses prototype and its heads-up display for smart cars at CES 2019, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas this week. I saw the demo at the company’s headquarters last week, and it involves a pretty light pair of transparent glasses, connected by a USB-C cable to a smartphone in your pocket. It works indoors or outdoors.
Over the years, smart glass design has come to market in various flavors, from the futuristic sci-fi look of Google Glass, to the sunglasses style of Vuzix Blade and the old school trendy style of North’s Focals. But DigiLens hopes to bring something new to the augmented reality (AR) hardware table with its unveiling at CES today of DigiLens Crystal, frameless and CPU-less smart glasses arriving in 2019 at under $500 (£395).
If waveguide display maker DigiLens has its way, enterprise businesses and consumers will soon be able to purchase smartglasses for less than $500 — as long as they can supply their own computing and battery power.