The latest See-through AR Smart Glasses from Vuzix powered by industry-leading Waveguide Optics. But when my head faced my window, the clip, especially darker scenes, were harder to see. You can learn more about that in our initial hands-on with the Blade. Thank you for signing up to Tom's Hardware. You can view photos taken on the Blade in its GalleryEx app. The latest See-through AR Smart Glasses from Vuzix powered by industry-leading Waveguide Optics. The Blade also automatically stores photos and videos in its internal storage, so you can transfer the files to your PC (more on that in the Transferring Files section below). At the bottom of the right arm is a mini-USB port for plugging in the included charging cable (adapter not included), as well as a microSD port covered by rubber for expanding the glasses’ internal storage past 5.91 GB. The Blades project an image onto the right lens; a small, 720p/8-megapixel camera that lets you take photos and videos is embedded in the left side. Please refresh the page and try again. The right temple area of the Blades houses a touchpad, which you use to navigate through the device's menus. However, the subway riders squished against me would surely notice the bright light shining from glasses. Everything, from the icons on the Blade’s menu, which run horizontally along the bottom of the display, to text displayed via messages or Alexa, to characters and animations in games, were not only clear and easy to read, but steady. I was able it to get it working with Spotify a few times. When and if the Blade gets a streaming app or the ability to store and play media, I can see myself comfortably watching some TV during my train ride to the office. If the Blade is on, the left arm glows a green light, which was always at least slightly visible on my face. The Blade has a built-in 8MP camera that’s also capable of shooting 720p video at 30 frames per second—simultaneously if desired. The Blade uses a thick piece of rubber as nose pads. The quality of the photos and video taken by the Blade's camera were OK given its size, but not nearly as good as you'll find on a smartphone, even one a few generations old. And I never felt the need to take them off due to heat. Every time I took the Blade off, the day seemed brighter and happier. Your friend texts you, wondering where you are; the message appears before your eyes, and with a few taps on the glasses, you respond that you're a few blocks away. Vuzix Blade Upgraded Smart Glasses … Check out reviews of our products and how businesses are using Vuzix … Vuzix … The Karaoke app has options to hear an instrumental or vocal version (with the real artists’ voice). However, you have to leave the notification screen on the entire time; I hope a more elegant solution is in the works. © and the battery percentage next to a battery icon. Both lenses have standard UVB protection and are photochromic, aka transition lenses, that darken when you enter a sunny area. The Blade also has an airplane mode if you need to conserve energy. However, just using the Blade's camera to snap pictures is a poor waste of its abilities. Wearing the Blade long term means lights on your face, ear discomfort, pain on the back of your skull and living in a tinted world. Smart glasses and augmented reality technology offer various benefits with the popularity growing year on year. The Blade runs on a ARM Cortex-A53. You can also set the the display to automatically go to sleep after 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds. I was able to look up the weather and play music on a Sonos One speaker; the Blades were fairly responsive, but on occasion, they were slightly slower than using an Echo Dot. It’s easy to send photos or videos taken on the Blade to your PC. You can also make the box filled with white, by activating the glasses’ Light Mode. They’ll automatically save as a JPEG or MP4. The Vuzix Blade costs $1,000 in the U.S. or £1,000 in the U.K. and you can buy them directly from Vuzix ’s website. Vuzix’s blade AR Smart Glasses are suitable for professionals as well as consumers. and the battery percentage next to a battery icon filled accordingly. They are heavy on the face and caused pain across the bridge of my nose while wearing them for long periods of time (+/- 30 minutes). The feature seems wonky. There was a problem. This makes it easy to move the files to your handset where you can easily share them with others. A preview of incoming text messages dropdown from the top of the display when received and also appear in the notifications section of the Home Screen. Both arms fold in half and end with monstrous tips. New York, Luckily, her responses display on the glasses after just 2 seconds and often come with a small, relevant image. Blade apps are available for free download within the companion app. If you have headphones connected to the Blade, you’ll can hear Alexa too. In the middle is an icon of a smartphone that shows how many notifications you have. Dino Hunt is first-person shooter style, holding you in a static position while you shoot dinosaurs with a tap of the touchpad. As mentioned earlier, if you don't have the Blades paired with a set of Bluetooth earbuds, you won't hear Alexa's reply. By comparison, the Focals smart glasses ship with a ring-like device called a Loop that has a small track point; you slip the Loop on your index finger and use the track point to navigate through menus, which is a little more intuitive than remembering a bunch of swipe gestures. They also make everything look tinted, although not as dark as if I were wearing real sunglasses. Unimpressed, you glance down the street; another, better-rated restaurant appears before your eyes, and you message your friend to join you there. The demo only shows the weather for three cities: Las Vegas; Rochester, New York; and Smithfield, England. At the moment, the small 720p/8MP camera in the Vuzix Blade can be used to take photos and video — a small red LED in the front of the glasses turns on when you're recording. The field of view (FOV) on the Vuzix Blade is equivalent to a 32” TV at 8 feet away. 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But while they show a lot of promise, these glasses are definitely for early adopters willing to put up with a few inconveniences, as well as the Blade's $1,000 price. After using the glasses for about 2 minutes straight, the arms both felt warm to the touch, but I didn’t notice that warmth on my face unless I paid very close attention. But i was disappointed to learned I couldn’t hear the caller through connected Bluetooth or wired headphones either. To use Alexa, you have to first tap in to the app, then tap once more to put Alexa into listening mode. The Accuweather demo was even more power-hungry, draining 14 percent of the Blade's battery in just 5 minutes. New York, That's the promise of augmented reality glasses, one that the Vuzix Blade is looking to realize. If you’ve been waiting for smart glasses with AR that’s actually worth projecting in front of your eyes, don’t mind a tinted view and don’t care what you look like, take a look at the Blade. READ: Magnify your workstation with Vuzix Smart Glasses Since Lal prefers the autonomy of ‘non-contact’ navigation (no cane), Smart Glasses allow him to interpret sounds more seamlessly. That’s a lot of tapping for Alexa, something that gained popularity for enabling of hands-free, instant access to the world. I often found myself wanting to take the Blade off after 1 hour and 20 minutes to avoid a headache. Vuzix is also planning to incorporate Google Assistant into the Blades but hasn't announced timing for that yet. Since this review focuses on the consumer version of the Blade, we tested out the consumer apps only. Each arm is about 7 inches long. The glasses lasted on average 2 hours and 28 minutes, far from a full work day. There’s also a phone symbol in the middle of square with a red circle showing you how many notifications you have. Fortunately, your augmented reality glasses point the way, displaying turn-by-turn directions, right in front of your eyes. Music also won’t play via headphones connected to the Blade, and you can’t control the music’s volume with the Blade. The Blade doesn’t currently support any streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or YouTube. Some apps, including direction notifications via Google Maps and HERE WeGo are not yet available for iOS users. But is it enough to make the average consumer consider wearing a computer on their face? He can detect object height, depth, and distance through headphones connected to the Vuzix Blade… Vuzix Blade Upgraded Smart Glasses perfectly balance enterprise and prosumer … While less than half the claimed battery life of the Focals, that should be enough to get you through a workday, but the battery will drain faster depending on what you're doing. For example, Dino Hunt filled the display with green trees and grass, gray boulders and red and blue dinosaurs, and Racer had guardrails and trees along the racetrack. The right ear piece is also where the battery lives. To access Alexa, you tap the touchpad to turn on the display, swipe to Alexa (third menu item), tap to enter, tap a button that says “Tap for Alexa,” state your request and then tap the arrow at the bottom of the screen to let Alexa know you’re done talking. Vuzix has yet to shake the look of its enterprise roots and deliver glasses that either blend into the crowd or stand out fashionably. The consumer version of the Blade smart glasses is available for purchase online for $999 or $1,199.98 with prescription inserts. Also, at the moment, you can get turn-by-turn directions only when the glasses are paired with an Android phone. © Above the box toward the right tells you what direction you’re facing (N, S, NE, NW etc.) Early iterations, such as the Google Glass, were shunned due to their robotic, social-life-killing looks. The Blade Upgraded Smart Glasses benefit from the same features as the regular Blade and now include an auto-focus 8-megapixel camera, built-in stereo speakers, and advanced Vuzix voice … I could comfortably read a long email or lengthy information from Alexa on the display without getting irritated or feeling eye strain. By comparison, the Focals by North smart glasses, which also cost $1,000 (ed. While the only files currently available are photos or videos, I see more use for this down the line should the Blade begin to support voice-to-text notes or allow you to store text or PDF files. The Blades would be much better served by having some sort of tactile indicator, like a small ridge, which would let you know where to place your finger without looking. I found that their bulkiness makes them uncomfortable to wear for extended stretches of time, and, as of now, there just aren't enough apps to justify keeping them on your head.Credit: Tom's Guide. I found this handy, for browsing through new emails from my personal and work emails, texts and calendar alerts. I only noticed a difference here when setting it to low and looking at a monitor or out a sunny window, as the display’s background would turn white. Carefully remove the small Philips head screw and remove the nose bridge, for details see below. With distinct, defined lines and bright colors, viewing texts, images and even video is not only feasible, but enjoyable and easy. All units now come with Z87.1 certifications for no additional charge. At Vuzix, we are dedicated to bringing our customers high-quality smart glasses and augmented reality (AR) technologies and products. Want to comment on this story? Android users can reply to incoming texts with pre-written responses that can be added to, edited, deleted and reordered, but that feature’s not supported in iOS yet. In the Blade’s settings, you can move the image up, down, left or right. Apps available for other Vuzix smart glasses include one for Parrot drones, iHeartRadio, Instagram, Pandora, MapMyRide and Spotify. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, Vuzix didn’t have an exact date for when capabilities that are currently available on Android only would hit iOS but said users can expect monthly updates to the Blade software. Tom's Guide is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. In the promotional materials and the reviewers guide, Vuzix advertises Yelp and the Motiv health and fitness app, which, when paired with a heart rate monitor, will presumably show your fitness stats as you work out. Each purchase comes with a zip-up case, which has an internal pocket on the lid, custom Vuzix-branded Bluetooth earbuds, plus a micro-USB to 3.5mm and micro-USB dongle for plugging in wired headphones, a micro-USB to USB cable for charging the Blade and a small drawstring pouch that doubles as a microfiber cloth. 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