Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “The Blade AR glasses fix Google Glass’ big problems”.
This is Nick Stat, with The Verge. We’re here at CES’s, TechCom Gadget, Show., We’re checking out the Vuzix Blade., It’s a pair of AR glasses and it’s the real deal.. This is Google glass, but it actually works. So similar to Google glass.
This floats a little square image in your view., Unlike Google glass, this is doing it directly over a pair of standard sunglasses.. You don’t have to look through a little prism.. You don’t have to look very high up into right corner of your vision.. It floats it right there in front of you.. In fact, you can even move it up and down in the settings of the glasses themselves..
The company Vusix they’re from Rochester New York. They’ve, been working in this technology for almost two decades, now. They’ve pretty much. Finally, cracked it. Right now when AR is having a big moment and we’re seeing a ton of AR goggles and glasses from all these different companies. Vusix here, has come out with a prototype device that actually works.
Right now with these glasses, you can do a number Of different things. Right now, I’m looking at a home screen as it floats right above my videographer Veerin right here.. Now, if I swipe with my right hand, I can go through different apps., There’s an Amazon, Alexa app.! That’S what makes these pair of AR goggles really stand out is they’ve integrated, Amazon’s digital assistant right into them.. You can speak to them as if you were speaking to an Echo speaker or any number of other Amazon devices..
If you keep scrolling, go from Alexa, there’s a little tank game that you can play., There’s a photo gallery, so you can pin some high res images and watch as they float around your field of vision.. They even have a FireFox browser here. That, unfortunately, does not work either’cause.
The wifi is a little bit spotty in here.. The really cool thing is they have a camera.. If I tap right here, I get a live view of what my glasses are seeing..
Then I can tap and take a photo.. I can’t stress enough how good this actually is.. This is the first pair of AR glasses that are actually comfortable.. They feel natural as they sit on my head.. I don’t feel any weirdness any discomfort. They’re, not squeezing the backs of my head..
It’S not lurching off the front of my nose in a really awkward way.. They sit comfortably on your head and the image floats perfectly clear right in front of your face. Vuzix says: they’ve only been able to accomplish this by spending so many years working on DLP projection, which is what they have miniaturized and put right here in the side Of the glasses. Using a wave-guide system to basically send the light back towards my eye. You’re, probably wondering how I can interact with the Vuzix Blade without either using the touchpad or using my voice. Down the line.
Vuzix says they will actually be able to enable gesture. Control., So you can reach out in front of you and touch the digital image and interact with it.. Now, a lot of other companies are trying. This exact same thing: DLP, projection, wave, guides.
Companies like Magic Leap down in Florida and we’ve seen it in a number of other companies here at CES too. No company has really figured it out quite like Vuzix has.. I can’t say enough that this is a pair of AR glasses. That really feels like it’s ready for primetime..
If they sold this next month, I would certainly consider buying it.. Now the company does plan on selling it very soon.. They plan on bringing a developer version to market in Q1 for $ 2,000.. That gets you a developer version and also a consumer version when that comes out in the second quarter of this year..
If you just want the consumer version, you can buy that for $ 1,000.. For all your augmented reality coverage both of the devices that don’t work and the devices that, like the Vuzix Blade, actually do work. Check out TheVerge.com or subscribe to us on YouTube at youtube.com/TheVerge. .