Vuzix – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

January 6, 2019

Vuzix Will Ship $1,000 Consumer Blade AR Smart Glasses In February

Following last year’s release of an enterprise version of Blade, a pair of augmented reality smart glasses that resemble traditional sunglasses, Vuzix confirmed dates and pricing for its consumer model. Previously referred to as “Blade General,” the retail version of Blade is available for preorder today at $1,000 and is shipping in 4-6 weeks.

Unlike some AR headset rivals, Blade isn’t designed to operate wholly on its own, instead relying on an Android phone or iPhone for data services. Wearers are able to see the real world through their lenses, augmented with a rectangular waveguide display that produces a bright, floating color image that’s easy to view.

The screen enables users to view emails, images such as restaurant menus, text messages, media player controls, and map navigation instructions, all of which can be addressed using frame-side controls and, in some cases, multilingual voice commands. Vuzix is now promising both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support. Additionally, an integrated camera can record 8-megapixel photos and 720p videos.

Blade is powered by a quad-core ARM CPU and a customized version of Android OS, with integrated gyroscope hardware for basic head tracking. It uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for wireless communications and has a microSD port to store content.

Vuzix has been working to define an audience for Blade since debuting the hardware at CES in 2017. It now expects that the retail version of Blade will appeal to workers whose hands are otherwise occupied, as well as disabled users who struggle to use conventional smartphones. The retail model will support prescription lens inserts at a premium of approximately $200.

Apart from third-party app support, which at the moment appears to be quite limited, the biggest question marks for Blade are battery life and whether consumers are willing to spend so much for relatively basic “AR” functionality. More information will likely be shared ahead of the product’s wider availability in February.

This post by Jeremy Horwitz originally appeared on VentureBeat.

Tagged with: Blade, Vuzix

October 27, 2018

Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses App Wins Health Award

Though Vuzix has primarily become a name associated with providing augmented reality (AR) smart glasses technology to businesses and industry, the company is also working for various applications in medicine and healthcare, such as seeCOLe or ‘see Clinical data on Lens’, which has just won an award at the Cerner Corporation Code App Challenge.

The Cerner Corporation Code App Challenge was held during the 2018 Cerner Health Conference in Kansas City. Cerner Corporation is devoted towards health technology and innovation that assists medical personnel in making care decisions and managing health of populations.

Vuzix Blade medical

Cerner brings thousands of medical professionals together each year for its annual Cerner Health Conference, which this year hosted the Code app Challenge, which gave third-party developers the opportunity to create, develop and pitch innovative solutions that can help improve health outcomes.

The app produces, titled seeCOLe is an AR health app that allows clinicians to navigate and document information into an electronic record system using smart glasses. While using the app, the clinicians can use verbal commands to interact with the electronic record, which can show data from a patient’s chart and display it on the Vuzix Blade smart glasses. Once the data is accessed, the seeCOLe application can be navigated using voice or touch features.

The app means that a clinician can access a patient record wirelessly and keep the hands free, thus also improving patient-doctor interaction, which can have a positive result on patient outcomes.

“The overall form factor, wearability and performance of the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses has drawn rave reviews from B2C customers, who see a tremendous opportunity to disrupt the existing market and build hands-free solutions around the Vuzix Blade platform,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer. “Innovative health applications like seeCOLe, delivered through a see-through display on the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses, can not only help clinicians provide improved care, but also increase their interaction with patients.”

Vuzix Blade 3000

For future coverage on Vuzix and other AR hardware and applications, keep checking back with VRFocus.

October 20, 2018

Vuzix Announces Partnership With WakingApp

Most weeks have some degree of news from Vuzix. As we’ve mentioned previously on our coverage, the smart glasses company is perhaps the most prolific user of press releases in he industry. However this particular week in October has been something of a Vuzix-fest of news, as this will make the third announcement from the team in a week – and they’re all about very different things.
Vuzix - Logo Today’s news is one of partnerships, however. With the company, founded back in 1997, revealing that they have entered into a multi-year strategic partnership with the team from WakingApp. They will be supporting Vuzix’s augmented reality (AR) smart glasses through their ENTiTi AR Creator content creation platform. Currently at version 3.0, ENTiTi AR Creator “allows for rapid content creation, simple integration with existing apps, on-the-fly content updates, support multiple AR solutions including SLAM AR, QR tracking or Image Target AR using JavaScript for its advanced scripting capabilities”.

Vuzix in turn will be distributing up to 100,000 limited time licencees for ENTiTi to its various customers over the next two years. With model environments being released as demos for both its M300 and Blade Smart Glasses. The move is designed, the company says, to promote app creation, as Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer, explained.

“Our partnership with WakingApp will introduce a new community of developers to the Vuzix Blade and Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses opening the door for the creation of new applications and experiences for enterprise and consumers. WakingApp’s ENTiTi AR Creator 3.0 levels the playing field for developers by enabling individuals with zero coding skills to create AR content for Vuzix smart glasses. Vuzix is really excited to provide ENTiTi AR Creatorform.”

Vuzix Blade “We are extremely excited about this partnership, and of becoming an integral part of one the fastest growing segments in the AR space.” Adds Matan Libis, the CEO of WakingApp Ltd. “By integrating our ENTiTi 3.0 creator with Vuzix line of smart glasses we believe that there is great potential to accelerate the growth in both of our companies.”

VRFocus will have more AR related news, and probably more for Vuzix too, very soon.

October 19, 2018

Vuzix Announces Release Date for Blade Smart Glasses

Vuzix has become well-known in the augmented reality (AR) industry for its work providing AR smart glasses to businesses. The company had previously announced it was working on its Blade line of smart glasses, which are lightweight glasses which resemble an ordinary pair of thick-framed glasses. Vuzix have now announced that it is ready to launch the Blade Edge smart glasses product.

Vuzix are expecting to start shipping the Vuzix Blade smart glasses to customers in November, 2018.

Vuzix Blade

Previously, Vuzix had launched the Blade Developers and Edge programs, which were designed for software developers to give them access to beta units. More recently the company launched the Developer Centre to let Vuzix partners access a set of resources for developing applications for the Vuzix Blade.

The first commercial release of the Vuzix blade will include the Blade Edge software development kit (SDK), which will allow enterprise customers to link the Vuzix Blade smart glasses to iOS or Android smartphones and tablets. In addition, customers will get access to the Vuzix Blade companion app, email, messages, media player control and application notifications between Vuzix Blade and paired iOS or Android devices.

“Vuzix has been seeding developers and enterprise customers with Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses over the last few months and the feedback we have received from our community of customers has been very encouraging,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer. “The Vuzix team of software engineers has put together an incredible Blade Edge commercial edition SDK for our customers to begin leveraging new functionality, porting over existing enterprise applications and opening up communication links directly between connected Android and iOS devices and the Vuzix Blade to deliver new hands-free content and productivity tools for consumer facing business applications. Vuzix continues to work diligently on the next Vuzix Blade General release for both consumers and business, which will include an expanded software suite and services as well as retail packaging and accessories. It is expected to be released in January 2019.”

Vuzix Blade 3000

For future coverage on Vuzix and other AR devices and applications, keep checking back with VRFocus.

October 16, 2018

Vuzix Confirms App Developer Partners For CEATEC 2018

The Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC), Japan’s largest conference dedicated to electronics and information technology in general kicks off today in the Chiba prefecture of Japan, continuing through until October 19th.

Vuzix - Logo As you can imagine virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are set to feature during the conference. Such as Mitsubishi subsidiary Kabu.com will be demonstrating a VR trading solution at the event. On the AR side there is one familiar name in attendance – long-standing smart-glasses and firm Vuzix. Who have featured quite a lot in the news over the past couple of weeks. Vuzix, who have offices in Tokyo, will be presenting an abstract on ‘Successful Enterprise Deployments’ on October 18th. But have also revealed the list of applications that will be demoed at its booth (#S014-20) during the event.

Device Connect WebAPI

A screencast application developed by GClue with NTT DOCOMO’s opensource software on the Vuzix Blade and M300 Smart Glasses. Using Device Connect WebAPI Android phone users can wirelessly cast content from their Android mobile phone screen to the HUD of the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses over Wi-Fi and wirelessly consume real-time content hands-free via the HUD of the Vuzix Blade. Device Connect WebAPI is an open source software application listed on GitHub and is available now for download via the Vuzix app store.

Toshiba Client Solutions

Toshiba Client Solutions will be demoing Windows 10 applications for business with the Toshiba “Powered by Vuzix” AR100 Smart Glasses.

Live On

Japan Media Systems will be demoing Live On, a web conferencing system for enterprise on the Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses.

Vuzix M300 Visual Aid Other partners include KDDI Research, NID, OPTiM, Shinko Shoji and Atos.

As always with Vuzix, news comes thick and fast. So we’ll no doubt have more news on them before very long. We’ll also let you know as soon as we hear anything else coming out of CEATEC. Until then keep checking VRFocus.

October 14, 2018

Vuzix Amends Non-Compete Agreement To Sell Products To More Markets

Vuzix has announced that the company has amended the 10-year-non-compete restrictions it entered into with the buyer of its defense division in June 2012. This agreement meant that for a ten-year period the leading supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality (AR) products was not allowed to sell products or solutions directly or indirectly into the global Military, US Department of Defense, Security Organizations and First Responder markets. The agreement was held with TDG Acquisition LLC and had four years remaining on it but now, following an amendment to the agreed Vuzix can immediately pursue opportunities for their products and solutions in the above markers.

Vuzix Blade 3000

“Vuzix has always seen great opportunity in the first responder, defense and homeland security markets but saw better near-term opportunities in enterprise and consumer when making earlier resource allocation determinations,” commented Paul Travers, President and CEO. “Today, we have seen military, security and first responder opportunities come to the forefront as well. In assessing these developing opportunities, Vuzix and Six15 felt that collaboration rather than competition is the right mix to pursue and potentially win these significant opportunities. As such, we worked with Six15 to find ways where we might best pursue these opportunities and are quite pleased to reach this resolution afforded by the amendments to the earlier transaction documents. Together, we see many great opportunities and look forward to bringing Vuzix back to its roots and once again becoming a key player in the defense and military markets.”

These new markers are significant in both the United States and globally and exceed millions of equivalent personnel that could leverage and benefit from the products and solutions Vuzix has to offer. The defense and secuity organizations include business customers and Governmental Entity customers that mainly offer security and defense services, including police, fire fighters, EMTs, other first responders, homeland and border security.

Vuzix M300 Visual Aid

“Six15 is excited to expand the relationship with Vuzix and create opportunities to best support First Responder and Defense communities. Through a cooperative agreement, we believe that both companies can deliver superior solutions to these markets and focus on the strengths each organization brings to the relationship,” commented Rich Ryan, CEO of Six15 Technologies.

Further to the amendment, Vuzix and Six15 have agreed to work together on incorporating Vuzix’ industry leading waveguide optics and display engine technologies into Six15 products. As part of all this, Vuzix will pay a total of $1.5 million (USD) to Six15 in three installments over the next six months and will pay commissions at various rates for any sales into these newly opened markets.

As Vuzix continues to expand into new markets and bring their smart glasses and AR solution to more customers, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest so stay tuned for more.

October 11, 2018

Vuzix Recieves Follow-On Order for Smart Glasses At Changi Airport

Vuzix has becomes established as one of the leading companies supplying smart glasses and augmented reality (AR) equipment to companies and industries. The company has now announced that is has received a $1 million (USD) contract from SATS Ltd, a provider of services and solutions at Changi Airport.

The new contract is a follow-on order to provide M300 smart glasses to SATS Ltd at Singapore Changi Airport. SATS Ltd began piloting use of the M300 smart glasses for ramp handling operation in mid-2017, and is now expanding use to over 500 staff at Changi Airport.

Vuzix M300

Using the M300 smart glasses allows SATS staff to easily scan barcodes on baggage and cargo containers in order to improve the baggage handling process. The ramp handling staff will also be able to receive loading instructions in real time, which can give the ramp control cnte will a real-time overview of processes. SATA expects use of the AR equipment will improve accuracy and efficiency of baggage and cargo handling processes for larger wide-body aircraft, reducing loading timed by up to 15 minutes per flight.

SATS Ltd currently provides services in 60 airports in 62 cities across Asia and the Middle East, so a further expansion of AR equipment usage across SATS operations across Asia could have a substantial impact.

“SATS is a leader at innovation and now they are driving operational improvement through the use of Smart Glasses in their ramp handling operations. We are excited to be able to outfit SATS ramp handling staff at the Changi Airport with M300 Smart Glasses to help them quickly and accurately turnaround aircrafts and we look forward to additional smart glasses deployments with SATS in the future,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer.

Vuzix - Logo

For future coverage of Vuzix and other development in AR, keep checking back with VRFocus.

September 22, 2018

This Week In VR Sport: Vuzix And OnCore Target AR Golf, The VR League Finals Draw Near And Watch PGA TOUR Coverage In VR

Every weekend VRFocus brings you a number of sports and eSports related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) stories as part of This Week In VR Sport. This week, a reminder that the VR league Season 2 finals are being held at the upcoming Oculus Connect 5 event, Vuzix has announced a partnership with OnCore to produce AR experiences for golf players and fans can now watch PGA TOUR coverage in both VR and AR.

VR League

VR League Season 2 Final To Be Held At Oculus Connect 5

The ever growing VR eSports scene will be making another big step soon as it has been announced that the VR League Season 2 finals will be features at the upcoming Oculus Connect 5 event.

The Oculus Connect 5 event is taking place on September 26 – 27 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose and it is here that teams will face off against each other in the world finals of the VR League season 2. This will see teams for popular VR titles such as Onward, The Unspoken, Sprint Vector and even Echo Arena battle it out to take home the victory and the prize. The VR League is sponsored by Oculus and ESL so it isn’t much of a surprise that the final will be held at the Oculus Connect 5 event and might even become a trend in the future.

VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest from both the Oculus Connect 5 event and the finals of the VR League Season 2 as they develop, so stay tuned for more.

Vuzix Announces Partnership With OnCore Golf To Bring AR Experiences To Golf Players

Vuzix Corporation, known for their Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses, have announced that they are partnering with OnCore Golf to deliver new AR enhanced experiences for golfers on the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses.

The two companies will team up to create AR instructional, entertainment, and educational programs that golfers of all skill levels can enjoy at any venue – including driving rangers, golf entertainment centers, on the golf course, and at home – all center around the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses. The two companies are planning to introduce their first AR golf experience in early 2019 and will leverage third-part ball launch system at driving ranges and practice facilities.

By mid-2019, OnCore expects to launch its smart GENiUS ball and offer it with the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses to allow for real-time AR tracking and analysis for golfers to use in actual course play. The system will include a range of features such as instructional and caddying advice using a network of both professional golf instructors and artificial intelligence (AI), along with GPS location and sensor technology. More features are expected to be announced in the coming months closer to the release of the product.

“We are excited to enter into this partnership with OnCore Golf and believe it can create an entirely new form of entertainment and training experiences for golfers of all skill levels,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix talking about the new partnership: “Bringing Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses to the golf courses, golf entertainment centers and driving ranges gives us an opportunity to connect with more than 25 million active golf participants that play on more than 15,000 golf courses across the USA.”

“Coupled with an appropriate golf ball launch system, wearers can see their flight statistics in real time. Connecting the digital world to the real world through the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses allows wearers to keep their phone in their pocket and eye on the ball while offering an opportunity to improve their golf handicap or just simply have a lot fun while trying.”

VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on this partnership in the future as it develops.

PGA TOUR

Watch The PGA TOUR FedExCup Playoffs In VR And AR

PGA TOUR announced earlier this week that it was going to give fans an immersive way for fans to experience coverage of the FedExCup Playoffs event for the 2017-18 season. On offer are three holes of the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club which are being broadcast in VR with fans also able to enjoy some of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings warm up on the driving range.

Fans will be able to enjoy coverage of East Lake’s par-3 9th, par-3 15th, and par-5 18th closing hole in VR with an AR option available as well. In order to enjoy this content fans can watch it on Twitter, Periscope, the PGA TOUR mobile app and on the Samsung Gear VR via the PGA TOUR VR Live Oculus application. The remaining live coverage will run today from 1pm – 6pm (ET) and tomorrow at the same times.

To experience the AR cover, fans will need to download the PGA TOUR AR app to their device and then find a flat, horizontal surface on which to display the content. Once the model has loaded viewers will be able to select a player to watch and then enjoy their shot trails in AR. There are a number of different players and holes available to pick so make sure to try them all out in AR. For more information on the application and setup process, here over to the official website.

That is all for This Week In VR Sport. For more on immersive sport news keep reading VRFocus and remember to check back next week for another This Week In VR Sport.

September 13, 2018

Vuzix Announces Agreement With Aerospace Firm For Custom AR Display

A number of companies that specialise in augmented reality (AR) have been rising to meet the demand for business and enterprise AR. Vuzix has been one of the most prominent, having established deals with a number of clients. The company has now announced that it has signed and agreement with a Tier-1 aerospace firm to build a customised avionics head-mounted display system.

Vuzix and the unnamed new customer have created a multi-stage development program which includes several pre-agreed milestones and payments. The first stage of the program is expected to be completed in Autumn 2018.

Vuzix - Logo

If the first phase is successful and the client company signs off on it, Vuzix expects to receive follow-on orders from the customer to finalise the development of the product along with the tooling needed to deliver commercial volumes of the custom AR waveguide system as early as the second half of 2019.

“We are excited to enter into this partnership and believe it represents a strong vote of confidence in our capabilities and recognition of our leading position within the waveguide optics technology space,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix. “Additionally, the agreement demonstrates how Vuzix is able to leverage and partner our industry leading optics technology with top tier global partners across a variety of vertical markets including commercial avionics.”

Vuzix have previously reported positive results over 2018 so far. The company showed a quarterly revenue for Q2 of 2018 of $2.6 million (USD), compared to $1.3 million for Q2 of 2017. Vuzix attributed the continued growth of the company to follow-on orders from clients who have completed pilot programs and converted to full-scale deployments as well as repeat customers.

Vuzix M300

The company experts this trend to continue, with increased demand for AR displays such as the M300 smart glasses. For future coverage on Vuzix and other VR and AR firms, keep checking back with VRFocus.

August 1, 2018

Vuzix Arranges Discussion of Q2 Financial Results

Earlier this year Vuzix issued a letter to its shareholders regarding what the company is expecting to achieve over the coming months and years. Vuzix revealed that they expected revenues for 2018 to exceed those of 2017, thanks to an increasing number of companies embracing VR technology. The upcoming conference call will be to review its operating results for Q2 of 2018.

Taking part in the conference call will be Vuzix CEO and President Paul Travers along with CFO Grant Russell, who will be discussing operational and financial highlights for the quarter ended 30th June, 2018.

Vuzix M300

Vuzix have previously indicated that they are doing well, with number of factor influencing the company’s growth. The company has noted that there are over 750 pilot schemes currently ongoing that utilise Vuzix augmented reality (AR) smartglasses technology, such as the M300 smartglasses.

Several companies have already agreed to upgrade from a pilot scheme to full roll-out for the technology, which sees a large increase in order numbers for the company, such as with the recent large order from AMA XpertEye, a video conferencing firm.

One of the key areas for Vuzix has been the industrial sector, which has turned to AR and in particular smartglasses to assist with functions such as remote maintenance, stock control and quality assurance, all while insuring that an employee’s hands are kept free.

“Our M300 Smart Glasses enterprise business continues to expand in 2018 and we are delighted to see an existing customer place a single follow-on M300 order that far exceeds their 2017 total order volume. Vuzix is making a concerted effort to work closer with our extensive M300 enterprise customer base to successfully migrate hundreds of active pilot programs into productive larger rollouts.” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer.

Vuzix - Logo

Details of the upcoming conference call are as follows:

Date: Thursday, August 9, 2018

Time: 4:30 PM Eastern Time (ET)

Dial-in Number for U.S. and Canadian Callers: 877-709-8150

Dial-in Number for International Callers (Outside of the U.S. and Canada): 201-689-8354

For future coverage of Vuzix and other VR and AR related companies, keep checking back with VRFocus.