Augmented Reality – The Vuzix Smartglasses M100 have been around for quite some time and have been used in various industry applications. While the smartglasses have been available to the public directly from Vuzix, the company had no marketing plan to create more sales.
However, this has now changed, with Vuzix announcing that it is selling the M100 Smartglasses through Amazon. So far, Amazon has taken orders and promised delivery on or after November 27, 2014.
The M100 Smartglasses are Android-based with a one eye design. In contrast to the Google Glass device, the M100 is of the look-around type. While it can provide information to the user, it is not capable of overlaying this information to real world objects and people. On the other hand the contrast and image quality is more controllable and not dependent on the background.
The M100 connects to your smartphone with Bluetooth 4 or can connect to any Wi-Fi directly. It comes with a 5MP camera that can take still pictures as well as 1080p video. It can also be used as a bar code scanner to compare prices of products and it has a calendar, contacts and audio recorder.
The display has a WQVGA (400×240) resolution and creates a virtual image of a 4″ display at a distance of 14″. It produces a brightness of over 2000 nits.
There is no new technology behind the M100, however the new OS 2.0 changes how the smartglasses can be used. An SDK has been available for quite some time and app development is under way, which will not only be available under Android but also under iOS in the near future. This may also be influenced on how well the M100 sells to the consumer.
According to Vuzix, the M100 smartglasses will be available through the Amazon Wearable Technology store. The units are priced at US$ 999.99 and will be ready to ship at the end of November. – Norbert Hildebrand
