Vuzix® Corporation (NASDAQ: VUZI), a leading supplier of Video Eyewear and Smart Glasses in the consumer, commercial and entertainment markets, is pleased to announce today that it has partnered with HeadApp to produce Glass4Flight, an application for pilots that connects WiFly, an integrated system that collects and communicates every significant aircraft and flight data item in real time and links the data with Vuzix M100 Smart Glasses, creating a Virtual Glass Cockpit and a whole new user experience for the pilot.
HeadApp has created the first multimedia glasses application and solution dedicated to the aeronautic industry. The application will become available for purchase April 15th at the AERO2015 Expo. A test video of Maurizio Cheli, a Chief Test Pilot for combat aircraft and veteran of one NASA space shuttle mission, flying with the Vuzix M100 can be viewed at: http://www.vuzix.com/partners/headapp/.
HeadApp’s Glass4Flight app, developed by Eco-Mind and DigiSky, creates a Virtual Glass Cockpit for the M100 Smart Glasses wearer and displays vital information such as heading, aircraft speed, aircraft altitude, flight time, flight level, route information, traffic avoidance information, estimated time at next waypoint and much more vital information that can be easily accessed and switched between one digital panel to another with a simple gesture from the Smart Glasses. Glass4Flight, which gets that data from WiFly has audio/video capabilities, allows the pilot to remain hands-free with the ability to get all the information from the instruments at a quick glance, allowing the pilot to devote their attention on the flight and not the cockpit instruments.
Vuzix and HeadApp believe that adoption of the Glass4Flight with M100 Smart Glasses will directly address the problem of pilots with “busy hands and eyes.” Their solution enables hands-free operation, which improves safety, efficiency, and effectiveness, allowing the pilot to properly perform their job. Testing of Glass4Flight with Vuzix M100 Smart Glasses is taking place in Turin, Italy in collaboration with the local Aero Club and is in its final stages of testing. Fifteen planes equipped with the Glass4Flight “Vuzix Ready” app were used in the testing phase.
“Creating a solution for the aviation industry isn’t an easy task and collecting and using the data is one of the biggest technological challenges the industry faces. But with a dedicated team with many years’ experience in innovative technologies, business and aviation and partnering with Vuzix’ great products, we were able to make this solution possible,” said Fabio Chinaglia, Founder and CEO of HeadApp. “We are pleased to begin this program with the help of Vuzix. Once we got our hands on the M100, we knew this was going to be our primary device. The M100 Smart Glasses offer an amazing user experience for the pilot, much better than using any other kind of glasses and we are excited about the real work application.”
Paul Travers, President and CEO of Vuzix, said, “Vuzix isn’t new to the aviation industry, but this is the first time that we looked at a project with the pilot in mind as opposed to engineers and airline crew. We have worked closely with HeadApp with a focus towards the private aviator. What we have seen so far has been quite eye opening and the potential for our M100 with regard for the pilot program gives us a lot of possibilities. During the further testing phases, we will look at new opportunities to embark on.”
The Vuzix M100 Smart Glasses are the world’s first commercially available hands free display and wearable computer designed for the enterprise users. The M100 contains a virtual display with an integrated camera and a powerful processing engine, running the Android® OS to wirelessly connect via Bluetooth or WiFi directly to most standard networks or to a smartphone or other compatible device.
