These smart glasses in the picture
above have a tiny little laser. It allows you to check your notifications, check
the weather, talk to Alexa, get walking directions, and even
call an Uber.
They start at $599, with the price
going up depending on if you get different frames or prescription lenses. The implementation and app support isn't all here yet, especially if you use an iOS
device, but the fact that these glasses exist at all shows how far we've come
from products like Google Glass.
As I mentioned, there's a
laser in the right arm of the glasses that functions kind of like a heads-up
display in a car. It's the same effect. In that, the information projects in
front of you, and you can look straight through it. You might also notice the
spot on the right lens, which could catch someone's eye if the light shines
just right.
It's a photopolymer material that
allows the laser to broadcast an image and be seen. The
projection bounces off that material and hits your eye, creating a 15-degree
viewing area. That's about 300 x 300 pixels. It doesn't take up your full view,
and it isn't huge. Beyond the glasses, you'll need this ring(shown above) called
the Loop to control what you see. It's a button and a joystick, so you click
down to wake up the glasses, hold down for Alexa, and move it around to access
different menus.
The
glasses have a microphone and a speaker inside. So,you can talk to Alexa or
dictate a text message. The speaker will chirp when you get a notification, and
Alexa will respond to your commands aloud. You can always mute this or silence
the notifications, which you'll definitely want to do if you wear these to a
movie, like me, or if you're in a serious workflow and can't be distracted.
The
glasses mirror your phone notifications, so any time I get a text, email,
dating app notification, or any other push, it pops up in front of my eyes. It's
a lot, especially during the work day, and you don't realize how many pointless
pushes you get until you see every single one in front of your face all the
time.
The glasses require a special
charging case to charge, and that case, which is huge, needs a USB-C connection
for power. If you wear these regularly, you'll definitely need to charge them
every night. North says they should last about 18 hours.
They're plastic frames but have
adjustable nose pads, presumably to keep them from slipping down. The glasses
are also heavier especially when you clip on the sunglasses, which you'll need
if you want to use the Focals outside. The projection is nearly impossible to
see in daylight, but the glasses are splash-proof, which might make me a little
nervous in a heavy rainstorm, and the ring is water-resistant.
Immediately, when you click the
glasses on, you'll see the home screen with the
time. This was a really helpful screen for me because I'm always running late,
and I'm on the subway and needing to know the time. Now, I don't have to take
my phone out of my bag just to get that information. If you push over to the
left, you'll see all of your recent notifications, which you can clear, and if
you go to the right, you'll see your text messages, which you can respond to, either through voice or prewritten
messages.
Within the Focals’ companion
smartphone app, you can set your home and work
locations. Right now, the glasses can only provide walking directions through a
service called Mapbox.
You can also call an Uber from that
screen, but you can only call an UberX. It'll show the fare on the map screen and
call it as soon as you click. So, don't just click for fun because an Uber will
show up at your door.
