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takyon writes:

North Focals Review: Stealthy, Stylish Smart Glasses

Focals are currently only available after two in-person fittings (for more on North's detailed fitting process, see our first hands-on with Focals) in their Brooklyn, New York or Toronto, Canada stores. The trip is tempting as Focals cross a huge smart glasses barrier by offering functionality in a form that stands a good (but not perfect) chance of passing for regular glasses. However, while we enjoy apps like Amazon Alexa and Weather, more apps and better image quality would make the $999 / $1,200 CAD price tag (with or without prescription lenses) more forgivable.

Focals use a Qualcomm APQ8009w system-on-a-chip (SoC), which runs on four Arm Cortex A7 CPU cores at a clock speed of up to 1.09GHz. The SoC is marketed for smartwatches, with features like Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity and a Qualcomm Adreno 304 GPU.

[...] The left arm of my review sample is bare black on the outside, while the inside subtly reads "Focals by NORTH" near the temple and "CLASS 1 LASER PRODUCT" near the tip. The right arm is also bare on the outside. The inside, however, holds the holographic display projector, which uses a display technology called retinal projection to project photons, or light, or raster graphics, onto the retina. When the projector is activated, it's not visible from the outside. It projects images onto the right eye only. This advanced retina display also calls for precise measurements in the aforementioned fitting process.

On the bottom of the right arm is a small square area for connecting the charger, a small speaker/microphone and the power button.

The Loop controller ring comes in black and is mostly made of polycarbonate with gold-plated charging contacts. You'll hear a clicking noise in the glasses every time you use the joystick, unless you turn all sound off.

[...] The most impressive part of Focals' is that no one will know when you're using apps, since the AR display is only visible to the wearer. It works by creating red, green and blue light that is manipulated to make text and images the Focals' projector sends out. Next, there's a holographic lens in the right eye that's embedded with a transparent film designed to interact with red, green and blue wavelengths only. Everything else passes through. According to North, "when our specific wavelengths of light hit the transparent film, it acts like a mirror and bounces the light back towards your eye placing the image directly in your line of sight where only you can see it."

[...] After playing with the Focals for 5 continuous minutes at maximum brightness and volume, the right arm's hottest point was 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

No cameras, no wireless charging. Lame.

Previously: Intel's Vaunt Augmented Reality Smartglasses Concept Lives on at Canadian Company North

Original Submission