Intel has a new pair of smart glasses in the works, but they aren't big and obvious like Google Glass, nor a head-mounted PC like Hololens, they're pretty subtle. Indeed if you didn't know they were smart glasses, you might assume they were just a normal pair of specs. The Vaunt glasses are special though, because they're impressively powerful and beam the augmented reality information right on to your retina.
The Vaunt glasses look normal by virtue of storing all the hardware inside the front part of the glasses' stems. That leaves the back of them to flex and bend like normal glasses. The only tell tale sign that they're anything but, is a slght red glimmer on the right-hand lens. They're also compatible with prescriptions and can be worn all day without discomfort, according to TheVerge.
Vaunt works over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and can beam basic information like directions and notifications into your peripheral vision. It's basically a smartwatch, but it beams the information into your eye instead of onto a wrist-mounted device. The specifics are that it delivers a monochrome image of around 400 x 150 pixels. The laser is a low-end class one, so doesn't even need certification and it would be impossible for it to damage your eye -- though for the squeamish that may not be enough reassurance, as it is still a laser being shined into your eye. Or at least, on to a holographic reflector, into your eye.
The glasses also contain a small battery, wireless connectivity and an app processor, which will be able to augment the Vaunts' function with navigation tools, messaging systems, perhaps some sort of streaming ability for basic video in the future.
There's a lot of potential with these, but Intel will have quite a marketing leap to take to convince a large audience that shining lasers in their eyes is the way forward.
Image source: Verge