Thalmic Labs launches smart glasses called Focals

After a large amount of syringe, Google Glass was stored. The devices looked clunky and sparked bar matches when people did not want to be recorded. The Google product led to a new pejorative – Glasshole.

Grant said that the North Research and Development Group studied what happened to earlier versions of other companies.

"And it taught us some important lessons," said Grant. "Take a design-first approach, that would be a big one of course."

Focal rooms come in two styles ̵[ads1]1; classic and round. And three colors – black, turtle and gray. Each pair must be customized to the user's face. Then the company opens two showrooms – 113 Ossington Ave. in Toronto and 178 Court St. in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn.

Focal rooms are designed to look stylish and the technology is not intrusive. Nobody has ever called Google Glass Stylish.

"We think it is essential for a product like this to succeed," said Grant.

He has a pair of black focals. He can quickly view date and time, read and reply to text messages, watch weather reports, view calendar alerts and reminders, get directions, communicate with Amazon's home business Alexa and call a Uber.

He controls the smart glasses with his voice or a small twist on the side of a ring on his index finger. Focals are connected to the user's smartphone with Bluetooth.

"Early in this process of raising the team to focus on this product, we hired glasses from a spectacle company, not technology background," said Grant.

The eyewear designer – Marie Stipancik from Clear Contacts – was hired. Her design team worked closely with engineers.

"There's a lot of back and forth there and figure out how to make this happen, but we made it very clear that the design of these is outstanding," said Grant.

Thalmic Labs was founded in 2012. After increasing $ 134.5 million, it quickly became one of the leading launches in this region and now has nearly 500 employees.

Preorders for Focals can be placed online. Buyers must visit North showrooms in Toronto and Brooklyn to be mounted. Exhibition premises will open in early November and will have the mounting boxes equipped with 11 cameras.

The cameras will scan the faces of buyers to create a 3D model, making Focals a custom fit. Focal rooms can be made with clear glass or prescription lenses for the same price. Focusing can also be used with contacts.

A true fit is critical because of technology – a small projector bounces a beam of a lens and into the user's eye.

"You really do not have a screen There's no rectangular display here, just information, pixels are lit up, you do not see anything else," said Grant.

"So it's very different from any other screen or screen you've seen before, "said Grant." It's not a screen. It shows you information when you need it, where you need it and then get out of your way. "

Research and development began shortly after the company moved into the headquarters of Charles Street in Downtown Kitchener. Originally, it hoped to use his new technology to control computers for the next generation of personal devices.

"The next generation did not end and was not anywhere on the horizon," said Grant.

Then they decided to concentrate on to create and market the first couple all day, smart glasses every day. As advances were made, they approached every high-tech contract manufacturer in the world with design and specifications for different parts.

"And they looked at our drawings and said," You is crazy, there is no way, it can not be done, these tolerances are ridiculous, this will not happen, "said Grant.

Then they bought a used production line from BlackBerry, and started production Focals out of a plant on Roger Street in Waterloo. 19659002] "This is really just the beginning of the way of Focals," said Grant. "We are very excited as a company about where we can take this product."

Future updates may include the ability to send and receive video, or show notes for a musician or the text of a speech for a public presentation.

Nord opened showrooms on Ossington Avenue and in Cobble Hill in Brooklyn because of the people who live there.

"Both of these neighborhoods are full of young, super-connected people who live the macotrends where fashion and technology collapse, where your work and home life collapse and all the complexity that brings," says Adam Ketcheson, North's top marketer. [19659002] Both neighborhoods have early adopters and advocates of new technology, he said.

Part of the reason to start in Toronto and Brooklyn, and to roll out very slowly is that we have the opportunity to learn from the early users and listen to it and make the product even better than it is today, says Grant. [19659029] tpender@therecord.com

Twitter: @PenderRecord

tpender@therecord.com

Twitter: @PenderRecord