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Smart Glasses: a booming market?

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In the accessories and connected objects sector, the glasses have certainly had the most painstaking start. Quickly announced, Google's Smart Glasses are stalled since 2014 now , including a price too high to take off. But the smart glasses market has a bright future ahead of him. Other behemoths have begun to develop their models, in what could be the high-tech boom of the second decade of the 21st century. So, is the Smart Glasses market booming?

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Smart Glasses: after Google Glass

A failure can sometimes cool the craziest inclinations. But it's bad knowing the kings of innovation, research and development . It has been almost ten years since we were promised that our glasses will go digital. After our phone, our watch, our dear pair of glasses, first medical device, then fashion phenomenon, will in turn become the way to stay in touch with the world.

As disturbing to some as an episode of Black Mirror, this news, as well as the failure of the famous " Google Glass ", will not have overcome the ambitions of developers

Studies estimate that by 2025, the sale of connected glasses could represent 10 to 15% of the optical market . The forces of this market? The homogeneity of manufacturers , from small start-ups to giants, but above all the incredible range of applications and possibilities, as never before for a connected object: Smart Glasses offer a multitude of solutions, for professionals as for individuals.

The stakes are thus very real, the numerous targets.

The giants of tech in the front line, but in the biggest secrecy

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This first file is also an opportunity to make a point on those who will do the market. You will not be surprised that the most anticipated are the big groups of American tech: Facebook , Apple and Tesla in the first place.

Regarding the first named, the teams are currently in the process on a light and classic frame, which Mark Zuckerberg had announced in 2017, stating that it would take "five to seven years" for them to be created.

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This brings us back to 2022 – 2024.

Still, Facebook glasses are almost ready for commercialization . The process would have been greatly accelerated.

Regarding their functionality, the secret is still well kept. But the technology used could allow users to connect to their loved ones and use mobile apps. Nothing else has filtered.

Apple's approach is equally secretive. We know that the Californian firm will undoubtedly move towards the manufacture of virtual reality glasses, because it has just bought the company Akonia Holographics , specialized in advanced optical technologies. Their specificity? Create transparent and particularly thin holographic glasses with a large and affordable field of view for augmented reality glasses.

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Again, the features of these glasses are very fuzzy, and no doubt they will be impossible to decrypt before any announcement.

Professionals as guinea pigs

Faced with the new challenges these connected objects are facing, some have taken the gamble not to make the mistake of Google, by offering their technologies upstream to the professionals . This makes it possible to justify certain costs, and especially a high selling price much more easily than for individuals .

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This is what giant Tesla has planned. The South African car company Elon Musk used until then the Google Glass for its employees. Yet, a patent filed late 2018 indicates that she could create her own eyeglasses to help her employees on the assembly lines.

Tesla mentions in this patent an object using augmented reality, in order to control all stages of production of its cars . The worker would be able to interact with an object capable of recognizing anything that deserves special attention.

Eyeglass analysis would direct the employee to the potential observed irregularities.

Tesla describes his glasses as capable of "significantly accelerating the speed and efficiency of the production line, particularly on a production line of automobiles or auto parts. »

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Of course, if these tests prove conclusive, nothing will prevent Tesla, or others, from offering their innovations to other companies, before throwing themselves soul in the target of individuals, decidedly very difficult to convince.

The big yes, but the others?

In order to be able to market connected glasses, the general public must recognize their usefulness. What better, then, than to use it to ensure the safety of his fellow citizens .

As we tend to hear, for safety, we do not count …

In France, road safety has always been a national issue. Philippe Peyrard, former CEO of Atol, started from this principle to create in 2016 the company Ellcie Healthy and its frames called Prudensee.

This start-up offers glasses to fight against falling asleep at the wheel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruLkls7oLgQ [/ embed]

How? Thanks to infrared sensors, an accelerometer and a gyroscope. Thus, the mount is able to instantly detect early signs of falling asleep, such as blinking too fast eyes or close yawning.

With this detection, the pair of glasses will be able to alert the driver with a beep and a flash .

Attendance may sound the driver's phone , but also tell him the rest area the nearest, book a hotel room and even start a conversation to keep him company and allow him to arrive safely.

The gyroscope used can also detect an accidental fall , idea that can be brilliant, especially for the senior target.

We also discover the functionality that is used by any wearer of glasses: the possibility of beeping them when we can not get their hands on them anymore.

If the Ellcie Healthy frames are currently focusing their attention on falling asleep, it's a giant step forward . Indeed, thanks to the collected data, they will be able to refine their learning of the owner to better protect it.

One can then imagine that this technology will be reused for many other cases

Made in France, Ellcie Healthy's Prudensee frames are on sale at Optic 2000 opticians for a single price of 289 euros .

[= Closer to connected watches, the Smart Glasses of the American company Level consist of an activity tracker (step counter, calories, activity measurements …) more traditional but still effective.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tk1pN4NFkk [/ embed]

As you can see, the Smart Glasses market is still difficult to decipher . We have known the major American tech groups about this project for many years, and we understand that we are getting closer and closer to what they expect.

[= ] The well-kept secrecy of the features and the different strategies employed (buy-back, use of professionals as a step of influence …) condemn us to an expectation proportional to the excitement.

Because it is difficult to imagine that we remain on the failure of Google. It is even presumptuous to say that they have not thought of a plan B.

Faced with these giants, others do not waste time and already propose to be the future of optical frames.

If stammering and backtracking can cool down, such a buoyant and exciting market certainly has a bright future ahead of it.

Days that fade away from the unknown and bring us closer and closer to the outcome …

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