The Vuzix Blade 3000 AR sunglasses will be showcased at CES 2017
Over the past couple of years, smartwatches have become an essential gadget for a lot of people's lives. They serve as an excellent companion for your primary device, allowing you to quickly and easily glance at any notifications that come in throughout the day. However, as great as smartwatches have gotten since their initial release into the market, they aren't the only major wearable piece of tech that exists. Augmented reality technology, such as Google Glass and Microsoft's HoloLens - may not be growing as quickly as smartwatches, but there's no doubt that they carry a lot of potential for true greatness.
Unfortunately, Glass as we know it is dead, and HoloLens is still restricted to a ridiculously large headset that you wouldn't dare wear outside in public. However, a company by the name of Vuzix is looking to change this with the Vuzix Blade 3000 Smart Sunglasses. Vuzix has just announced that these new smart glasses will officially be showcased at CES 2017 in January of next year, and from what we know so far, they look quite impressive.
The Vuzix Blade 3000 Smart Sunglasses will display a virtual HUD for the wearer that will contain information that's pulled from a smartphone it's paired to. Vuzix has said that these glasses have capabilities similar to that of a smartwatch, and in many use cases, it could completely get rid of the need for you to have to pull your phone out to conduct regular tasks. Vuzix achieves all of this through the use of their Cobra II engine and what they call, "waveguide optics." This tech allows the Blade 3000 Smart Sunglasses to showcase all of this information over the real world in front of you - similar to Google Glass and Microsoft HoloLens. However, unlike those two gadgets, the Blade 3000 is able to house all of that tech into the body of a rather normal-looking pair of sunglasses. Bundle all of this tech with an included HD camera, motion tracker that is able to detect your head movements, and a touch pad, and you're looking at an insanely promising package.
There's currently no word on pricing for the Vuzix Blade 3000, but we wouldn't expect them to come cheap. As for compatibility, the Blade 3000 runs the Android OS, but it will work with both Android and iOS-powered phones. Thankfully, we won't have to wait too much longer for additional information on this gadget as CES is just a couple short months away at this point.
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