Vuzix Confirms New, Smaller Smartglasses Model with Fashion-Friendly Design
On Monday, a representative for Vuzix shared part of a recent investor presentation with Next Reality. That part of the presentation includes an image of the next, unreleased version of the company's smartglasses, and it looks pretty damn good.
The only telltale signs of embedded tech are the slightly thicker than normal arms on the frames (which serve touch interfaces), which will likely be unnoticeable by all but the most studied follower of cutting-edge AR wearables.
One of the partners involved in making the new device is Plessey and its microLED technology, which has been in the spotlight in recent months regarding Vuzix's next moves.
That relationship is largely based on the use of Plessey's Quanta-Brite technology, which the company describes as an "advanced and proprietary gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology, with an integrated monolithic array of RGB pixels with advanced first level micro-optical elements." What that technology delivers, according to Plessey, are smaller and lighter optical systems by up to 50% when compared to competing products.
The design upgrade puts Vuzix more directly in competition with North, a startup with a lot less experience in the field, and fewer identifiable relationships in the enterprise space. But if the new battleground is the consumer space, the two brands are effectively starting on equal footing in terms of lack of name recognition with your average mainstream consumer. Therefore, the key here will be execution, pricing, and support.
See the full story here: https://next.reality.news/news/vuzix-confirms-new-smaller-smartglasses-model-with-fashion-friendly-design-0199666/