According to a 2012 study conducted by IHS, wearable technologies will account for more than $6 billion in sales in the year 2016.
The world market for such things as smartwatches, health-monitoring bracelets, smart clothing, and whatever else the geniuses in the R&D departments of today’s tech leaders come up with is expected to hit an estimated 171 million devices — a greater than 10-fold increase from the 14 million figure cited at the time of the study.
Of those 171 million devices, a vast majority will be privately-owned gadgets worn outside of a work setting for doing things like taking photos, sending and receiving messages, engaging with social networks, and the rest of the functions you generally expect from your current smartphone.
One of the biggest and most anticipated of these devices is the Google Glass — which we’ve written about at length.
Want to Be the First on Your Block With Smart Glasses? Forget Google.
You’ve probably seen the ads, pictures, and reviews from early testers. Indeed, for a product that has been shrouded in exclusivity since a handful of dedicated techies were “selected” for testing, this device has hardly been hiding its secrets.
Even prior to its full release, expected later this year, the Glass has virtually become synonymous with the words “smart glasses.”
However, amidst all this hoopla, another, far less sensational device has appeared on the market and achieved the status of commercial availability.
If the airy, angular design of the Google Glass finds its inspiration in the mythical land of technological enlightenment, then the M100 Smart Glasses — designed and marketed by the Vuzix Corporation (OTC: VUZI) — would be more at home on the face of a Borg drone or a young Darth Vader.
Built around the principle of monocular data display (the same idea that was pioneered on the weapon-targeting systems of attack helicopters such as the AH-64 Apache and later borrowed by the designers of the Google Glass), the M100 snaps onto your favorite pair of goggles or sunglasses, its tiny screen hovering several inches in front of your preferred eye.
Definitely not as stylish as the Glass, the M100 is, nevertheless, highly functional.
Function Over Form
It is, in essence, “an Android-based wearable computer, enhanced with a wearable monocular display… with recording features and wireless connectivity capabilities designed for commercial, professional, and prosumer users.”
“Its pre-installed apps can be used to record and playback still pictures and video, track timed events, manage a calendar, link to a phone and more. The M100 is compatible with thousands of existing Android apps and easy access to developer resources enables the creation of custom apps to suit virtually any need.”
According to the Vuzix description, the M100 has all the capabilities of a modern smartphone in a hands-free, wearable device.
It, of course, contains an HD camera for still picture and video capture and enables the user to store his or her content in expandable onboard memory or stream it.
Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity makes it easy to pair with another Android device or connect wirelessly to the Internet.
An integrated head-tracking and GPS system can not only provide apps with your location but even the direction and angle of your current view for “unprecedented situational awareness.”
Cheap and Available
And at $999, it comes at a significant bargain over the Explorer version of the Google Glass, which — unless you’re a software developer — you still can’t have for $1,500.
I know it might sound a bit too good to be true, but this device, despite its relative anonymity, has already received accolades from the industry.
In 2012, when the Google Glass was still just a fantasy for everyone but Google insiders, the M100 was the recipient of the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering Award BEST OF INNOVATIONS and was also selected as Best Technology in the Wireless Handset Accessory category.
So why, then, have you not heard about this thing yet?
Well, there’s one main reason: While the Google Glass is designed as a “life accessory” for the well-to-do tech-savvy crowd, the M100, despite its versatility in using commercially-popular apps, was more geared for the working crowd.
Tasks like documenting inventory, monitoring work environments, coordinating cooperative tasks on the job site, and a variety of other less-than-hip functions were clearly in the design directives over at Vuzix.
However, this should not impede commercial popularity of the device. Remember, Google itself, from its first days, was designed as a tool for academics to more efficiently find and share information with one another. The fact that it blew up into one of modern history’s most important consumer products was just a side effect of its simple yet effective functionality.
And so the story might go with the M100.
Public Relations Ramps Up
This is a fact not lost on management at Vuzix, who announced this past Wednesday, April 23, that they will be contributing the devices to AT&T’s Hackathon Developer summits this spring and summer.
Mobile App Hackathons are events produced by the AT&T Developer Program that are designed for attendees (technical & non-technical) to build apps, compete for prizes across different categories, meet new people, and scout for teammates to work on new or current projects.
“We are proud to be attending and participating at the AT&T developer events this year. This serves as a great opportunity to support AT&T and provide visibility for our products, particularly our award-winning M100 Smart Glasses,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix CEO. “We look forward to encouraging and helping world class developers use the latest tools and technologies at their disposal to create innovative solutions.”
If you’re intrigued by the M100, prepare to be even more intrigued by the company behind it.
Most outfits introducing devices of this sophistication and usability to the commercial marketplace, on anything but the most limited scale, are usually medium- to large-sized firms with multinational production and marketing capabilities.
Vuzix, as of today, is a tiny, $30 million company whose stock trades just south of $3.
Based in Rochester, NY, it was founded in 1997 and represents a small but healthy contingent of newly-rising North American tech companies with product lines rooted not in the present but in the future of commercial consumer goods.
This is one I highly recommend you keep your non-electronically-augmented eyes on. I know I will.
To your wealth,
Brian Hicks
Check us out on YouTube!Brian is a founding member and President of Angel Publishing. He writes about general investment strategies for Wealth Daily and Energy & Capital. For more on Brian, take a look at his editor’s page.
