PBT Consulting

WHAT GOOGLE'S AUGMENTED REALITY HEADSUP DISPLAY (HUD) GLASSES NEED TO SUCCEED: DESIGNERS LIKE PRADA AND GUCCI

Google's augmented reality headsup display (HUD) glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

ANDROID IS SLOPPY BECAUSE GOOGLE LICENSES THE SOFTWARE FOR ANYONE TO USE. BUT OPENING PROJECT GLASS’S HARDWARE TO EVERY FASHION DESIGNER IN THE WORLD COULD HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT RESULT.

When you buy an Android phone, it means very little. The phone could be made by anyone. The case could be bulky, thin, sturdy, or clunky. The screen could be one of the sharpest or blurriest on the market. And worse still, the software itself could be skinned to something unintelligible. Android is a fragmented mess.

Google has handed over the keys to their flagship mobile product to a bunch of companies who are often brilliant at engineering but rarely all that tasteful when it comes to design. So despite having every company but Apple making Google phones, Apple is still, somehow, making the most beautiful hardware. An iPhone might not have 4G like some Android phones on the market, but Apple has style and that counts for a lot.

 

While Apple’s closed system offers covetable design, Google’s open line of phones only gets larger and more confusing. Google is ostensibly selling every phone in the world but the best one. But Project Glass could be very different. It could be the time where, like the early days of Windows PCs, open hardware again becomes a huge advantage. Why? Because Project Glass isn’t a gadget that’s tucked away in your pocket. It’s a fashion accessory that sits on your face. Fashion has its trends, sure, but ultimately, fashion is an expression of individual taste that’s fueled by an uncountable amount of options.

Right now, most of us are cringing at Google’s proposed Geordi-friendly geekwear. But imagine a scenario where Google offered Project Glass as a small hardware kit that any company in the world could use to make Google Glasses. (Somewhat like Microsoft, Google could close the software and open the hardware--or at least parts of the hardware.)

While the typical electronics manufacturers would still produce Google Glasses, it could bring in a new wave of designer manufacturers, too. Instead of HTC, Motorola, and Samsung, we could buy Google products designed by Ray-Ban, Fendi, and Gucci. Then, even retail stores like Target, who spend big bucks to subsidize designer labels for the masses, could get behind the technological platform to create whole new lines of the product. Every corner of the market is covered--from the techies to the moms to those who can actually afford high fashion.

Ultra couture fashion designer Tom Ford's mens and womens eyewear lineup for Spring 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Prada's Spring 2012 Campaign eyewear (Click Image To Enlarge)

The result could be a refreshed paradigm for gadgets. A world once dominated by engineering decisions could be dictated by artistic tastes. Construction wouldn’t just be through milled aluminum or new composite plastics, but wood, textile, fur--any whim of the fashion industry.

And a company like Apple, who could conceivably release a competing product, would be in a much different position. Right now, Apple is the electronics design equivalent to Michael Phelps racing a bunch of children around the kiddie pool. But with every desirable fashion brand in the world behind Project Glass, Apple wouldn’t have nearly this margin on style. They’d finally have some decent competition, all arising from the smallest boutiques to the largest retail stores.

With Apple’s closed approach, their products would resemble a uniform at worst and a single label at best. And Google? They’d run the entire fashion industry.

COMMENTARY:   In a blog post dated April 5, 2012, I reported on the four things that Google needed to do in order to succeed with its new augmented reality headsup display (HUD) glasses.  I also said, 

"Yes, design is important. Yes, its important to do a beta test and get customer feedback, but Steve Jobs said it better with his secrets to innovation, 'Say no to a thousand things,' 'Make a dent in the universe,' and 'Design insanely great products that people will lust for.'"  

I never mentioned licensing Google's AR HUD glasses technology, but it is beginning to make sense to me.  Google is a great developer of technology, but they are not known for their design and distribution.  When they launched their Nexus smartphone, the design was there, but the distribution was a total disaster, and the new phone failed to make it in the marketplace.

Turning the design of the new glasses over to real world designers who are known for their skill in designing fashion will be hugely important.  Well known designers like Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Prada could have fun designing Google's new glasses.   Having a well known designer name, instead of just Google, will give the new glasses instant creditability. 

Consumers may not know if they need a pair of Google's new glasses yet, but design above everything else will play a huge role in convincing them they have to get a pair.  The design of the new glasses will have to be truly earth shaking and make a fashion statement.       

Courtesy of an article dated April 15, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

FOUR PROBLEMS GOOGLE NEEDS TO OVERCOME IN DESIGNING THEIR NEW AUGMENTED REALITY HEADSUP DISPLAY (HUD) GLASSES

Google HUD glasses

GOOGLE IS PLANNING TO AUGMENT REALITY, AND IT’S A DESIGN PROBLEM THAT WILL REQUIRE MORE THAN MERE ALGORITHMS TO SOLVE.

Google has never been a design-forward company, revolutionizing our lives through interface design. Instead, they’ve taken over the world building products with raw intellectual horsepower--brilliant artificial intelligence to fuel search, wise mapping systems to take us from point A to point B, and clever cloud-syncing apps that allow us to collaborate on projects from around the globe. Google never had to be pretty. It’s always been smart.

Yesterday, Google officially revealed a project that will push them to their creative limits. It’s called Project Glass, and it’s a pair of glasses that layers digital information over the real world.

 

It’s your smartphone, right in your eyes. You can read text messages. You can take photos. You can listen to music (thanks to some built-in earbuds). You can even be told that the subway is closed as you walk up to it, and be redirected to your destination by foot.

But maybe most notably, nothing about what Google has presented is an actual product yet, or considered close to finalized.  A Google spokesperson told Co.Design. 

“We wanted to let people know about what we’re doing, and what we hope to achieve with it.  But in terms of the graphics, the visuals, the hardware setup, there’s a lot of experimentation going on. And a lot of rapid prototyping on the team.” 

The concept video Google has shared is meant to signify what the team feels “would be of most value to people,” and what they’re closest to actualizing. Now that this concept is public, Google will be entering what they called the “feedback gathering phase,” in which they’re looking for the community to chime in on what they want to see (and don’t want to see) in a fully realized product.

Click Image To Enlarge

So where does this leave us for now? What Google has shown is promising, but their design challenges are clear:

1. GOOGLE NEEDS TO AVOID "THE SEGWAY PROBLEM"

There’s a reason that video glasses haven’t taken off yet (and by that, I don’t mean augmented reality glasses like Google’s, but something more like Vuzix). And, for lack of a better term, we’ll call it The Segway Problem. Technology can be a symbol of your future-forwardness, or it can be the exact opposite: a sign of the future’s ridiculousness. The Segway flopped in part for its cost and in part for the fact that humanity isn’t quite that lazy, but there was a deeper, visceral reaction to the core of the product that signified a silly future rather than an inspiring one. So far, the actual glasses Google is showing off aren’t inspiring. To succeed, Google will need to sell us on either the stylishness, or the invisibility, of video glasses. And may we suggest copying the iPod in this approach? Make the technology as obscured on the user as possible, except for one trademark calling card (in the iPod’s case, white earbuds).

2. GOOGLE NEEDS TO NAVIGATE "THE ALWAYS ON PROBLEM"

As inspiring as moments in Google’s concept video may be--and the photo-taking moment is an aha moment if I’ve ever seen one--it’s also stuffed with notification, none of which is fundamentally different from what we could be checking on our cell phones less intrusively. The functions that Google blocks will be as integral to the platform’s success as those that are enabled. Finding the perfect level of obtrusiveness within an omnipresent Internet connection could be the largest challenge of human-device interaction the electronics industry has ever encountered. And as Google is paving new ground, they’re working outside their comfort zone: Google has no data to mine for how much notification is too much notification. If ever there’s been a product ripe for Google Labs field testing, it’s Project Glass.

3. GOOGLE NEEDS TO FIND A KILLER USE-CASE

People in the Valley used to talk all the time about finding "killer apps"--that is, the one, defining use of a technology that’ll spark its mass adoption. And no wonder: With technologies such as augmented reality and Project Glass, the possibilites seem to outstrip the actual need. As I suggested before, these glasses aren’t yet doing anything our phones can’t. So why do they need to be glasses?

A good counter-example is the iPad. Lots of people dismissed it when it first came out, saying,

"Sure, it’s cool, but what does anyone need another computer for?"

Well, it turns out, people didn’t need another computer so much as they wanted one--a computer that would make surfing the web from your bed or couch a lot less clunky and more fun. With Project Glass, I’m not sure that they have that use-case yet--that is, the perfect scenario where this just makes sense in people’s lives. There might be some set of features and interactions that makes it so, but these haven’t quite appeared just yet.

Click Image To Enlarge

4. GOOGLE NEEDS TO ATTENUATE "THE TOO MUCH FEEDBACK PROBLEM"

Where Project Glass is at now, what one spokesperson labeled “the feedback gathering phase” in our brief conversation today, is a tenuous spot to be in. Crowdsourcing can create great products, but when it comes to inventing something that no one has conceptualized before, we need bold visionaries, not naysaying Internet whiners. Not just anyone can design a user interface. And I’d posit that almost no one can design a usable interface that will sit in our eyeballs 24/7. Crowdsourcing user feedback at the invisible level--the advanced A/B testing Google does when they test the color blue without us even knowing it--could be integral to fine tuning Project Glass at a number of levels. But at heart, they will need to present us with a most singular vision if they expect any of us to don a pair of glasses, not a mishmash of suggestions from the peanut gallery.

The little things, the softest touches of design, will define Project Glass’s future in the marketplace.

• Is the interface loud or quiet?
• Do we use vocal commands with some functions or all functions?
• Are notifications really in the center of the screen, or can they be repositioned?
• Will images be opaque or partially transparent?
• What will the glasses show when I sit at my computer or when I drive?

All of these “how does it feel” components will matter even more than they do in a cell phone. But on top of all this, and maybe most importantly, we’ll need to know the one big reason that we’ll all want to wear our phones rather than keep them tucked away in our pockets. As of right now, I don’t think we’ve seen it. 

Most of us interact with at least one Google product every day.  Many of us use their products all day, every day. Whether or not you’ve been particularly inspired by their design, you can’t argue that their approach hasn’t worked well enough so far.

But it’s been a while since Google was the first to market in uncharted territory (and it begs the question, have they ever been, really?). Wearing a computer has the potential to redefine the human experience even more than PCs or smartphones did. With Project Glass, Google has the task of designing the interface of our lives, and I can’t imagine a greater challenge ahead of them.

COMMENTARY:   The more complicated advanced aircraft avionic and electronic systems became, pilots encountered more difficulty operating and flying their aircraft.  A better and more efficient system was needed to prevent information overload.  The whole purpose behind the original military-style headsup display (HUD) glasses was to make it possible for pilots to fly and view the operating controls of their helicopters and jet fighters  so they could fly their aircraft without constantly looking at their consoles.  At the speeds modern military combat aircraft fly, pilots needed immediate access to their aircraft's flight controls and other information. HUD filled that need because they could now see their electronic controls, everything from available fuel, speed, altitude, air pressure, CO2 levels, armaments available, and radar targets in the immediate vicinity, just to name a few.  

I think cell phones may rapidly be reaching the point where a more responsive and user-friendly user interface is necessary to make life easier for users.  The two major weaknesses or disadvantages of cell phones are their small displays and keyboards.  Cell phone owners are spending entirely too much time watching the display and manually typing text messages and emails.  Typing mistakes are frequent and often.  This has always been one of my major rubs against cell phones.  I believe that Google realizes that a solution to this problem is needed.  If Google doesn't solve the problem, then Apple or another cell phone set maker will.  Sooner, rather than later, cell phone set makers must eliminate or substantially reduce our dependancy on manual cell phone controls and keys.  HUD display glasses appear to be the logical solution.  However, what do you do about "talking heads," those annoying individuals who use headphones to talk on their cell phones?   Will telephatic controls be far behind? 

Augmented Reality combined with HUD technology certainly has applications for location-based social networking and checkin services like foursquare, Loopt and Facebook Places.  Law enforcement will definitely be using this technology, and this is quite scary.   I see all of this happening sooner, rather than later.  Google+ will definitely benefit from this new exciting technology. Google+ users will be able to connect and engage with friends in real-time in the physical world no matter where they are.  Brands will be able to bring us deals no matter where we are.  Google has been working on object and face recognition for quite sometime, and I can see a point where Google+ users can immediately recognize their fans and followers in their Circles.  A Google+ user could recognize a Facebook user too.  The possibilities are quite endless as pointed out in the above article.   

I agree with the four problems identified by Fast Company's Mark Wilson, but I believe that they are secondary to the two major weaknesses or disadvantages of todays cell phones identified above.  Yes, design is important. Yes, its important to do a beta test and get customer feedback, but Steve Jobs said it better with his secrets to innovation, "Say no to a thousand things," "Make a dent in the universe," and "Design insanely great products that people will lust for."     

Courtesy of an article dated April 4, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

 

TRANSCENDENZ'S AUGMENTED REALITY GLASSES HELP YOU TAP INTO YOUR INNER SELF AND INFORMS US ABOUT OUR SURROUNDINGS

As difficult as we make it sound, self-improvement can be a straightforward thing. It’s relatively easy to become more fit (diet and exercise) or even to become smarter (read more and attend classes on a topic). But how do you possibly approach making yourself a better person?

For his thesis project, Michaël Harboun, now a designer at Ideo, tackled that question through a concept called Transcendenz.

 

His vision was for an augmented reality interface that wouldn’t just tell you where the nearest burrito joint could be found in the city, but to help you discover something inside of yourself.

Click Images To Enlarge

Harboun writes us. 

“Regular AR applications add a layer of objective data, informing us about our surroundings. They give us an instant answer, so that we immediately know what we see.  Transcendenz doesn’t give answers, it asks questions. It believes in the user’s ability to put the world around him into question, and to not content himself eating instant available data.”

Click Images To Enlarge

The application builds empathy through a mature gamification. It tracks, not just your eyes, but your emotions and actions in the real world. As the user takes actions that are empathetic, they level up. But they’re also constantly challenged by the application to broaden their worldview.

Watch the embedded clip from 6:45 in, and you’ll see Transcendenz alter the worldview of someone who puts out their cigarettes on a tree.  Writes Harboun.  

“By transforming the perception of the user, Transcendenz points out to an invisible philosophy, hidden behind the everyday world.  The application encourages us to leverage our consciousness of things and to transcend what we see.”

Click Images To Enlarge

And in doing so, Transcendenz functions differently from most technology we use in our lives. Rather than ignoring one’s spouse to play Angry Birds, Harboun’s app forces the user out of technology, to be “fully immersed into the present moment.”

Harboun writes.  

“My hope for AR glasses is that it will make people look away from their screens.  My fear is that it will make us see what’s overlaid, and not the underlaid anymore.”

Well put.

Click Image To Enlarge

COMMENTARY:   Thankfully, an AR application and pair of bio-sensory glasses that doesn't try to sell you something or violate your privacy or someone else's.   I love how Transcendenz puts you kinetically, emotionally and physically in better "touch" with the physical world in which you live. It uses input from your mental or kinetic energy to help you balance your emotions, by explaining what you are thinking and how you are reacting to a certain stimuli.   I would love to wear a pair of those cool AR Transcendenz glasses to a party or social gathering to see if what I am feeling emotionally and psychologically actually registers that way using Transcendenz.  This is truly a great way to improve your social skills and keep yourself in a meditative state of mind.  Quite a concept.  I wonder much Transcendenz will cost when it hits the stores.

Courtesy of an article dated February 28, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

GOOGLE TO SELL CONTROVERSIAL AR HEADS-UP-DISPLAY (HUD) GLASSES BY YEAR-END, RAISES HUGE PRIVACY CONCERNS

People who constantly reach into a pocket to check a smartphone for bits of information will soon have another option: a pair of Google-made glasses that will be able to stream information to the wearer’s eyeballs in real time.

According to several Google employees familiar with the project who asked not to be named, the glasses will go on sale to the public by the end of the year. These people said they are expected “to cost around the price of current smartphones,” or $250 to $600.

The people familiar with the Google glasses said they would be Android-based, and will include a small screen that will sit a few inches from someone’s eye. They will also have a 3G or 4G data connection and a number of sensors including motion and GPS.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on the project.

Seth Weintraub, a blogger for 9 to 5 Google, who first wrote about the glasses project in December, and then discovered more information about them this month, also said the glasses would be Android-based and cited a source that described their look as that of a pair of Oakley Thumps.

Click Image To Enlarge

They will also have a unique navigation system. Mr. Weintraub wrote this month. 

“The navigation system currently used is a head tilting to scroll and click.  We are told it is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users.”

The glasses will have a low-resolution built-in camera that will be able to monitor the world in real time and overlay information about locations, surrounding buildings and friends who might be nearby, according to the Google employees. The glasses are not designed to be worn constantly — although Google expects some of the nerdiest users will wear them a lot — but will be more like smartphones, used when needed.

Internally, the Google X team has been actively discussing the privacy implications of the glasses and the company wants to ensure that people know if they are being recorded by someone wearing a pair of glasses with a built-in camera.

The project is currently being built in the Google X offices, a secretive laboratory near Google’s main campus that is charged with working on robots, space elevators and dozens of other futuristic projects.

One of the key people involved with the glasses is Steve Lee, a Google engineer and creator of the Google mapping software, Latitude. As a result of Mr. Lee’s involvement, location information will be paramount in the first version released to the public, several people who have seen the glasses said. The other key leader on the glasses project is Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, who is currently spending most of his time in the Google X labs.

One Google employee said the glasses would tap into a number of Google software products that are currently available and in use today, but will display the information in an augmented reality view, rather than as a Web browser page like those that people see on smartphones.

The glasses will send data to the cloud and then use things like Google Latitude to share location, Google Goggles to search images and figure out what is being looked at, and Google Maps to show other things nearby, the Google employee said.   They said.  

“You will be able to check in to locations with your friends through the glasses.”

Everyone I spoke with who was familiar with the project repeatedly said that Google was not thinking about potential business models with the new glasses. Instead, they said, Google sees the project as an experiment that anyone will be able to join. If consumers take to the glasses when they are released later this year, then Google will explore possible revenue streams.

As I noted in a Disruptions column last year, Apple engineers are also exploring wearable computing, but the company is taking a different route, focusing on computers that strap around someone’s wrist.

Last week The San Jose Mercury News discovered plans by Google to build a $120 million electronics testing facility that will be involved in testing “precision optical technology.”

COMMENTARY:    In a blog post dated February 8, 2012, I commented on the article by Seth Weintraub of 9to5Google.com, that revealed Google's development of "Terminator" style, Android-based head-up-display (HUD) glasses.   That was just a rumor, but it now appears that Google is rapidly moving towards launching their new HUD glasses by year-end.

I hate to say it, but these augmented reality HUD glasses are going to be very controversial and create many privacy concerns and liability issues.  Information about you is now readily available on the internet, especially from social networks, and Google will be able to tap into that information to display your name and possibly your contact information, and anything else you may have posted online.  

In an article February 22, 2012 by Thomas Claburn appearing in InformationWeek, there were 7 potential problems Google may encounter with their new augmented reality HUD glasses:

"Here are a few potential pitfalls:

"Privacy - The outcry over people beaming images back to Google's data centers will be deafening, far worse than complaints about Google's monitoring of Web browsing habits. Google engineers are said to be actively discussing the privacy implications of the glasses. But the company's history of repeated privacy blunders suggests controversy is inevitable."

"Google has the technology to enable facial recognition with its Google Goggles app, but has avoided doing so for fear of privacy problems. And that's the real shame here, because augmented reality glasses should be able to do things like present the name of the person you're looking at. That kind of technology will be available eventually, at least to police departments. But as a society, we're not ready for it."

"Redundancy - Augmented reality is cool. But putting the technology into a pair of glasses isn't strictly necessary. Everything your Google glasses might be able to do, your Android phone will do better, particularly given the assumption that the glasses will be intended for periodic rather than constant use."

"Cost - For several hundred dollars, you'll get what? Services already available on your smartphone. Augmented reality makes a lot of sense if you're, say, a NASA astronaut who needs to see Space Shuttle schematics in your visor while you're on a space walk to make repairs. Augmented reality makes less sense for consumers. A more cost-effective solution might be a smartphone scaffold for mounting your phone on your baseball cap."

"Health - There's already enough FUD about mobile phones and brain cancer. But even the most scientifically-minded are likely to balk if Google's glasses rely on anything more powerful than Bluetooth to transmit and receive data. And that's to say nothing of the potential health effects of visual distraction and impairment. No one wants their last thought to be, 'Hey, Google Maps says I'm walking across Highway 101...'"

"Liability - And if there are health risks, there will be liability problems. People will wear Google's glasses while driving, despite explicit warnings not to do so. They will collide with elderly pedestrians and someone will get hurt. Someone will end up going cross-eyed. There will be lawsuits. And some politician will hold a hearing. Add the cost of an insurance policy to your Google Glasses bill."

"Battery Life - Battery life continues to hinder the utility of smartphones, tablets, and notebook computers. And in these devices, you can generally feel the weight of the battery. Glasses need to be light to be comfortable, so the battery will necessarily be small. As a consequence, the glasses are unlikely to be useful for very long, unless they require a separate tethered battery ... and that would ruin the experience. The ideal augmented reality glasses will be able to run perpetually on sunlight. We're probably several decades away from that kind of photovoltaic and processor efficiency."

"Control - Head-tiling will not be enough if the glasses are to offer services beyond navigation. The glasses will either have to convert hand gestures to commands or accept voice commands. So add a microphone, which adds another layer of privacy problems and engineering requirements."

"The glasses will also have to be extraordinarily responsive--when you turn your head you won't be happy with information related to where you were looking three seconds ago. That will mean either a very fast network connection--something many mobile carriers can't manage consistently--or displaying as little data as possible for the sake of speed and to appease mobile carriers, which already consider you a data hog."

Wow, it looks like Thomas Claburn covered all the possible pitfalls that Google could experience. Notice that privacy was No 1 on his list.  I wonder if Google's X-Labs team asked themselves, "What would Steve do?"   Better yet, did Google confer with their attorney's about liability and privacy issues and did they conduct field studies and get feedback from consumers?

This is a great time to mention that the Obama administration is working hard to legislate an online "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights" bill, and if the proposed bill passes in its present form without Congressional infighting, it could change the entire internet landscape with regard to privacy concerns.  Checkout my blog post dated February 23, 2012 about Obama's proposed Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights bill.   

I also envision a lot of ads appearing to the HUD whenever you look at a restaurant, movie theater, product whether a book or consumer electronics device, and a message telling you what it is, where you can get it, the price and if there is a deal on that item.  So unless you don't mind receiving these invasive ads appearing on your HUD, then its going to open up a whole new world for those individuals willing to forkup $250 to $650 and the software to use these new HUD glasses.    

I have always felt that technology would be heading this way, and it looks like it will be happening sooner, rather than later.   You can expect Microsoft, Apple and others to introduce similar devices, but they will probably wait to see just how much traction Google is making with their new HUD augmented reality glasses before launching their own.

Courtesy of an article dated February 21, 2012 appearing in The New York Times Bits

GOOGLE'S 'TERMINATOR' STYLE ANDROID-BASED HEADS-UP-DISPLAY (HUD) GLASSES ARE REAL AND THEY ARE COMING SOON

We detailed the first information about the Google [x] Glasses project in December.

"They are in late prototype stages of wearable glasses that look similar to thick-rimmed glasses that 'normal people' wear.  However, these provide a display with a heads up computer interface.  There are a few buttons on the arms of the glasses, but otherwise, they could be mistaken for normal glasses.  Additionally, we are not sure of the technology being employed here, but it is likely a transparent LCD or AMOLED display such as the one demonstrated below:"

"In addition, we have heard that this device is not an 'Android peripheral' as the NYT stated.  According to our source, it communicates directly with the Cloud over IP. Although, the 'Google Goggles'  could use a phone’s Internet connection, through Wi-Fi or a low power Bluetooth 4.0."

"The use-case is augmented reality that would tie into Google’s location services.  A user can walk around with information popping up and into display -Terminator-style- based on preferences, location and Google’s information."

"Therefore, these things likely connect to the Internet and have GPS.  They also likely run a version of Android."

 

This movie clip from the film "Termintor 2-Judgment Day," shows the 'Terminator' character wearing HUD glasses

Since then, we have learned much more regarding Google’s glasses…

Our tipster has now seen a prototype and said it looks something like Oakley Thumps (below). These glasses, we heard, have a front-facing camera used to gather information and could aid in augmented reality apps. It will also take pictures. The spied prototype has a flash —perhaps for help at night, or maybe it is just a way to take better photos. The camera is extremely small and likely only a few megapixels.

Click Image To Enlarge

The heads up display (HUD) is only for one eye and on the side. It is not transparent nor does it have dual 3D configurations, as previously speculated.

One really cool bit: The navigation system currently used is a head tilting-to scroll and click. We are told it is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users.

(As an aside, I built a head mouse as a Masters Thesis project a few years back that used head tilts to navigate and control menus. I am ready to collect royalties!)

I/O on the glasses will also include voice input and output, and we are told the CPU/RAM/storage hardware is near the equivalent of a generation-old Android smartphone. As a guess, we would speculate something like 1GHz ARM A8, 256MB RAM and 8GB of storage?  In any case, it will also function as a smartphone.

Perhaps most interesting is that Google is currently deciding on how it wants to release these glasses, even though the product is still a very long way from being finished. It is currently a secret with only a few geeky types knowing about it, and Google is apparently unsure if it will have mass-market appeal. Therefore, the company is considering making this a pilot program, somewhat like the Cr-48 Chromebooks last year.

Yes, Google might actually release this product as beta-pilot program to people outside of Google—and soon.

FYI Motorola’s got something cool in this area brewing as well (thanks commenter!).

 

The Motorola Kopin Golden-i is being showcased at the Verizon booth at CES 2012, demonstrating Industrial uses such as Construction, Medical, Public safety, Utilities and more.

COMMENTARY:   The technology for headsup display or HUD eyewear has been around for sometime now, as several startups have introduced HUD glasses that incorporate virtual reality technology, although they are still in the laboratory.   I do shutter at the thought that with today's face recognition technology, especially Facebook's tagged photos, that people will be able to instantly recognize who you are just by looking at you through these new HUD glasses.   How much will Google's HUD glasses cost?  Hard to say, but the ones that I have seen are expensive, well over a thousand.  With those hefty price tags, I can certainly understand Google's concerns that they may not have large market appeal.

Courtesy of an article dated February 6, 2012 appearing in 9to5Google.com

EVEN IN DEATH STEVE JOBS IS BEING COMMERCIALLY EXPLOITED, EYEWEAR FIRMS ARE SELLING HIS FAMOUS RIMLESS GLASSES

Never wasting an opportunity, the sellers of the rimless spectacles Apple’s Steve Jobs wore are capitalizing on the attention surrounding his death.

Power Bloom, the Asian distributor of Mr. Jobs’s go-to glasses, German-made Lunor Classic Rund PP, turned its booth at a Hong Kong optical trade show into a small Steve Jobs shrine. In a display case were a pair of the glasses and a photo of Mr. Jobs together with the following text:

Click Image To Enlarge

“Steve Jobs 1955-2011: We have lost an ultimate genius. What he has left us are his overwhelming ideas and his favorite glasses.”

Also in the booth were copies of Walter Isaacson’s just-printed biography, with the photo cover of Mr. Jobs in said eyewear.

On manufacturer Lunor’s homepage, there’s a photo of the glasses with the simple text: “THE GLASSES OF STEVE JOBS.”

Sales have “dramatically increased” since Mr. Jobs died, said Garick Tsui, marketing executive for Hong Kong-based Power Bloom. A pair of the minimalist glasses retail for about $450, he said.

“After he passed, many, many clients and customers asked for these glasses,” said Mr. Tsui. He didn’t know the exact number that have sold but estimated it was in the hundreds.

“Steve Jobs was about perfectionism,” he said, as he handled the feather-light, round lenses, which are affixed to slender stainless-steel frames with matching bushings.

Mr. Tsui didn’t respond directly to criticism that promoting the connection to Mr. Jobs could be seen as profiting from his death. He said.  

“People see these as a tribute to Mr. Jobs.” 

COMMENTARY:   I do not promote any of these companies, and if I have my druthers I would never wear rimless glasses, they break too easy.

Courtesy of an article dated November 4, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal blog

 

 

LOW-PRICED EYEWEAR MAKER WARBY PARKER RAISES $12 MILLION, BUT LIMITED SELECTION AND ONLINE ORDERING COULD BE A PROBLEM

Investors believe that Warby Parker‘s future is so bright that it needs to wear shades–stylish, affordable shades.

Take for instance the Winston, a frame that “ties ’60s cool with 21^st century bold” that can be fitted with prescriptive lenses for a price of $95. Compare that to retail prices that range into the hundreds.

Launched online early last year from scratch, Warby Parker leverages e-commerce to eliminate much of the overhead involved in operating a brick-and-mortar retail store and passes those savings on to customers. It’s a model that demonstrates the efficiencies that can be achieved in retail with an online model. And, the company’s early success shows that consumers have warmed to shopping for items online that they traditionally only would have been comfortable buying at a brick-and-mortar location.

Keen on the model, investors have just placed $12 million in Series A capital for the company in a round led by hedge fund Tiger Global, with participation from Menlo Ventures’ Talent Fund and previous investors First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures and Thrive Capital. The company previously raised $1.5 million. The funding was earlier reported by The New York Times.

Co-founder and co-Chief Executive Dave Gilboa said.

“One of our goals is to be the first major fashion brand to launch online while offering great value to customers.”

The trend is growing, as a few other fashion brands have also launched exclusively online, including menswear makers Bonobos, Indochino and J. Hilburn.

For a fashion brand, Warby Parker thinks a lot about technology. Gilboa said.

“We view ourselves as a technology-enabled brand.”

The new funding will be used to hire engineers who can build “the best e-commerce functionality out there.”

The site currently allows customers to use a webcam or upload a picture to virtually try on glasses. Gilboa said shopping for eyewear is by nature a social experience and the company is working on tools for customers to share different looks with friends to get feedback.

Warby Parker also offers a home try-on program in which it sends a customer five pairs of glasses to try on at home.

The company has plans to use the new funding to bolster its supply chain to keep up with great early demand.

“It’s been a really wild ride,” Gilboa said. “We’ve grown faster than we could have ever imagined.

COMMENTARY:  

A New Concept in Eyewear

Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point.

A collaboration between four close friends, Warby Parker was conceived as an alternative to the overpriced and bland eyewear available today. Prescription eyewear simply should not cost $300+. The industry is controlled by a few large companies that have kept prices artificially high, reaping huge profits from consumers who have no other options. By circumventing traditional channels and engaging with our customers directly through our website, Warby Parker is able to provide higher-quality, better looking prescription eyewear for under $100.

Warby Parker meticulously crafted their first collection of 27 limited run styles, plus one monocle, using only the finest custom acetates and materials. The Warby Parker aesthetic is vintage-inspired, with a fashion forward twist - and every pair is custom fit with anti-reflective, polycarbonate prescription lenses.  Available exclusively through the Warby Parker website for $95 a pair.

Eyewear with a Purpose

One billion people don’t have access to glasses, which means that 15% of the world’s population is unable to effectively learn or work because they can’t see clearly.

Glasses Increase One’s Income By 20%

That’s the equivalent of creating an extra day’s work each week. Glasses are one of the most effective poverty alleviation tools in the world.

Warby Parker Has Distributed Over 50,000 Pairs

Glasses distributed by Warby Parker to people in need enable them to become productive members of their families and communities. 

Warber Darby believes that everyone has the right to see.  Unfortunately, millions of people around the world today don’t have access to proper vision care. To help address this problem, Warby Parker partners with renowned non-profits, such as RestoringVision.org, to deliver one pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair that we sell.  In doing so, we enable you to share the gift of vision with someone who can’t see today and give them the opportunity to read, to work and to live a fuller life.

Why Was The Company Named Warby Parker?

The company was inspired by the master wordsmith and pop culture icon, Mr. Jack Kerouac. Two of his earliest characters, recently uncovered in his personal journals, bore the names Zagg Parker and Warby Pepper. We took the best from each and made it our name.

The company hopes their new glasses will provide all the style they need to travel their road with class, and their price will leave them with some extra cash to use on their journey.

Virtual Try-on

I tried o9ut Warby Parker's Virtual Try-On feature, and after uploading an image of myself and adjusting the frames on my face, this is the result:

The Virtual Try-On feature automatically sets the eyeglass frame in the right place, but you are able to adjust the placement slightly so that it rests properly.  My only complaint about Virtual Try-On is that it can be a bit time consuming compared to a regular eyewear shop, where you can view and try-0n as large variety of frames very quickly. 

Limited Selection

Warby Parker presently provides only 25-30 frame styles (men and women) to choose from. Frames come only in plastic and there are no metal or wire frames.  Sunglass frames come in only 6-10 styles (men and women).

Marketing Strategy    

I like the social cause-related marketing strategy of "buy a par, give a pair".   The low $95 price per pair (including the lenses) plus FREE shipping is going to be popular once the word gets out.  Going direct-to-consumer via their own ecommerce website, the Virtual Try-On feature and eliminating the middle man is a great strategy.  

Still, Warby Parker customers have a very limited selection of frame styles (no metalic frames) to choose from, customers still need to go to an optometrist and obtain a prescription.  Warby Parker has to prove they can provide personalized service equal to that offered in a store or optometrist office.  The company will have to sell in large volume to make any money.  

Their website claims they have given away 50,000 pairs of glasses, which means they have sold an equal number. That's not a lot of volume, but the concept appears to be promissing.  Having said this, I am surprised that the three venture capital firms forked up $12 million.  It's a bit too experimental and there are competitors, and the one-stop eyewear chains may do the same thing and kick the crap out of them with their broader selection and personalized service    

Courtesy of an article dated September 22, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch 

2011'S INDEX AWARD FOR TOP DO-GOOD DESIGN GOES TO SAN FRANCISCO INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER YVES BEHAR'S FOR GLASSES FOR THE POOR

The industrial designer is the first to win the INDEX award twice.

For the second time, San Francisco industrial designer Yves Béhar has won the INDEX Award, a 100,000 Euro prize given to five life-improving design projects by a Danish nonprofit. This year, Béhar's program "See Better to Learn Better," a system for delivering attractive, affordable eyeglasses to school-age children, has been presented with one of the awards. Béhar previously won for the One Laptop Per Child XO computer in 2007.

Béhar's team at his firm fuseproject partnered with nonprofit Verbien, Mexican company Augen, and the Mexican government on the eyewear project, which launched in 2010. Due to the high price and social stigma of wearing glasses, many Mexican students were not receiving the eye care they needed, causing them to fall behind at school. With the See Better to Learn Better program, students are given an eye exam, then those who need glasses are encouraged to build their own frames from a library of unique colors, shapes, and sizes, which are manufactured locally. According to Augen, more than 500,000 kids have received optometric care and more than 358,000 kids received donated frames and lenses. In the next school year, they estimate more than 240,000 kids and 20,000 adults will receive glasses.

With the winnings, Béhar plans to expand See Better to Learn Better to other locations, including a pilot program in Indonesia with the Sumba Foundation and another project that will take place in San Francisco in partnership with the nonprofit Tipping Point. Béhar cautions that providing proper eye care to young people is not an issue relegated to impoverished nations. Behar tells Co. Design.

"The need is everywhere, in both developing countries and the developed ones.  Getting over the stigma that kids feel when having to wear glasses is something that design, participation, and choice can do."

In fact, Béhar sees correcting vision as a vital global issue that could radically improve the state of the planet, akin to eradicating a disease.  He says.

"500,000 new kids entering school every year in Mexico need eyeglasses. Now let’s multiply this number by every country, and the numbers are staggering. That such a minute investment can change the education level of a population is a no-brainer to governments everywhere. For less than $10 -- the cost of the eye exam, custom lenses, frames, and shipping -- a child’s education level can change radically."

In fact, according to a study by the University of Aguascalientes, a child that receives lenses immediately improves their reading and comprehension by 100%.

If Béhar's track record with his last INDEX award is any indication, See Better to Learn Better will be a success. After winning the INDEX award for the One Laptop Per Child Project, OLPC has distributed three million laptops to children -- in some countries like Uruguay, every child between 6 and 18 years is using one.

Like the effect that OLPC has had on education in developing nations, Béhar can see a similar kind of transformation for students who receive glasses. He says.

"In one case, there was a girl that was about to be taken out of school due to poor performance.  She had been checked by doctors for extreme headaches, had a CAT scan, as well as other tests. In the end, it turned out all she needed was lenses."

COMMENTARY:   I love Yves Behar's glasses.  They're cool looking, coming in several different styles and colored frames.  What's not to like.  Judging from all the smiling faces, the kids love them too.   And, its all for a good cause.  It seems that I have been covering the Index design award for some time now.  Congrats to Yves Bebar and his design team at fuseproject.

Courtesy of an article dated September 2, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

HOW ADLENS SELF-ADJUSTABLE GLASSES CORRECT THE VISION PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD'S POOR AND DURING EMERGENCIES LIKE JAPAN'S EARTHQUAKE

For the millions of people around the world lacking access to affordable eye care, Emergensee glasses from Adlens Ltd. might be the solution.　The glasses are self-adjustable and can help both near- and far-sighted people.

Adlens sees an opportunity to provide its products to people in the developing world as well as in emergency situations, such as evacuations following disasters like recent earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.

 

"Adlens Emergensee" are glasses equipped with adjustable dials. A single pair can correct the vision of 90% of the population - useful for people who lose their glasses in disaster scenarios says James Chen, co-founder of Adlens.

For its product, Adlens has been selected as a finalist in the Asian Innovation Awards.

The World Health Organization reports that at least 153 million people world-wide live with uncorrected visual impairment, and the resulting loss in productivity is at least $120 billion a year.

The WHO says visual impairment is one of many obstacles facing developing countries trying to lay down the infrastructure for economic growth because it can decrease efficiency and motivation to learn or work, and compromises safety in work environments.

Emergensee glasses use Alvarez lenses, comprised of two plates sandwiched together that adjust the strength of the lens depending on how much they overlap. The technology takes its name from its inventor and 1968 Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez. Each lens can be adjusted to help focus eye refractions of 0.02 to 0.50, a measure of eyesight, meaning the strength of the lens changes from -6.0 dioptres to +3.0 dioptres, a unit of lens focus, by rotating dials on the side of each frame. Yoshinobu Nakajima, chief executive of Adlens Japan, says this range means the glasses help 90% of refractive-error cases. Refractive error is a visual impairment that occurs when the eyes cannot correctly focus on images.

 

Since its inception as a company in the U.K. in 2005, Adlens has been working with various humanitarian projects to distribute its affordable glasses to less-developed areas of the world, including Tibet and Ghana.

Emergensee glasses are also used in Rwanda, where there are only 10 professional ophthalmologists for its population of 10 million, according to Oxford University. Since 2009, Adlens has worked with Vision for a Nation, a nongovernmental organization that is screening the eyes of the entire population over the age of 8. The Alvarez technology is employed in one of the variations of free adjustable eyeglasses distributed alongside regular reading glasses to people who need them.

In April 2011, Japan became the first commercial platform in developed countries to market Emergensee glasses for what Mr. Nakajima calls "soft emergencies." Priced at ¥4,980 ($61), they are being sold on a variety of platforms—including the Internet and department stores—and are promoted as quick alternatives for people who may have lost, forgotten or broken their glasses.

The fact that each lens can be easily adjusted independently is how Emergensee will seek to be a step above commercial reading glasses that are already available. Mr. Nakajima also recommends them as additions to personal disaster evacuation kits.

Adlens's goals for the future are to improve on current Alvarez lens technology, and make the current design—one that strikes a resemblance to chemist goggles—more fashionable.

But most importantly, Mr. Nakajima wants to develop lenses that can help the remaining 10% of refractive-error cases that are outside the corrective ability of Alvarez lenses.

In addition to lens technology that use digital technology to automatically focus on images, which many other lens creators have set their sights on, Adlens is working on fluid-filled lenses called Adlens p.o.v. The technology uses the fact that light is refracted, or "bent" when it enters water from the air. Adlens p.o.v lenses contain an adjustable amount of fluid to focus on images as needed.

Adlens p.o.v. allows you to adjust glasses to your vision in a simple process that takes only minutes. You can change the lens power by turning the dials on the sides of the glasses to adjust the amount of fluid contained in the lens. This way, you can determine the lens power for near or distance vision quickly and easily. Once at a desired power, you seal the lenses and remove the adjusting dials. Lenses are protected by a polycarbonate cover, making them both durable and easy to care for. Adlens p.o.v. adaptive eyeglasses work as everyday glasses for distance vision as well as for looking at things near you like computers and mobile phones.

Mr. Nakajima said.  

"Eventually we hope to create a product that will accommodate people who cannot function without their glasses." 

Recently, Adlens donated 1,000 pairs of Emergensee glasses to local governments in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, two of Japan's hardest-hit areas. The glasses were distributed in refugee centers and to people living in temporary housing.

Mr. Nakajima says Emergensee glasses have been useful following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. When he went to distribute the glasses in Miyagi prefecture, he estimated that 30% of glasses-wearers evacuated their homes without their glasses.

He said.

"Many people who needed these glasses are in their 50s and 60s.  They need reading glasses, and they really liked these because they could be adjusted to different strengths."

He said local governments are considering stocking Emergensee glasses in case people need them in future disasters.

COMMENTARY:   As far as I am concerned, the Adlens Emergensee glasses are the Product of the Year for 2011.   It's an incredibly cool idea whose time has come.  There are millions of people in undeveloped countries, countless poor around the world, the homeless, and people who have experienced catastropies like the earthquake in Fukushima, Japan, who need glasses and would welcome this wonderful product.  

Courtesy of an article dated July 26, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal