Post-Google Glass, we have another reimagining of what smartglasses can be. Safilo Group, which makes glasses and sunglasses for designer brands such as Dior, Fendi, Marc Jacobs & Hugo Boss, is bringing its first pair of smart specs to CES in January.
We don't have any press images yet - the above pic is of a pair of dumb Diors - but we do know that the connected eyewear won't have an augmented reality display or a Snap Spectacles-style camera.
Instead, like Intel's recent Paris Fashion Week collab with Hussein Chalayan, Safilo is interested in measuring the wearer's brainwaves via five EEG sensors on the frames and nosebridge and providing stress biofeedback and meditation exercises in a companion app. If it sounds familiar, that's because for the past year Safilo has been working with InterAxon which made the Muse headband, reviewed by us last year.
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The Smith-branded smartglasses will last a week on one charge, weigh 36g and be available in a range of sunglasses styles before launching as prescription glasses. The release is set for summer 2017.
Speaking about the fashion aspect of the product, Safilo's CEO Luisa Delgado said: "The consumers don't have to make sacrifices on the glasses in order to get the technology."
Then, Safilo has indicated, its licensed designer brands are likely to follow with names like Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Celine, Kate Spade and Givenchy a possibility. Interestingly, many of these design houses already have smartwatch or smart accessories on sale via the likes of Fossil Group or HP. And its rival Luxottica has already made its first play with the more sports-focused Oakley Radar Pace.
We'll be at CES in Vegas this January so look out for hands on first impressions of Safilo's Smith smartglasses.
Source: Bloomberg
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