Developer | Vergence Labs |
---|---|
Type | Point of View Shot ( POV) Augmented reality (AR), optical head-mounted display (OHMD), Wearable technology, Wearable computer |
Release date | Developers (US): May 2011[1] Consumers: 2013 |
Introductory price | 8GB($299 USD), 16GB($399 USD), 32GB($499 USD) |
Storage | 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi, micro USB |
Power | lithium ion battery |
Backward compatibility | Laptop, desktop or Epiphany-capable phone or tablet running the YouGen.TV application |
Epiphany Eyewear are smartglasses developed by Vergence Labs. [2] The glasses record video stored within the glasses' hardware for live-stream upload to a computer or social media. [3] The glasses use smartphone technology. The head mounted display is a mobile computer and a high-definition camera. [4] [ failed verification ] The glasses take photographic images, record or stream video to a smartphone or computer tablet. [5]
The style of the eyewear frames is similar to the basic designer-like frames made famous and worn by Buddy Holly. [6] The multifunction plastic titanium framed glasses are controlled by pressing tactile buttons on the sidebar of the frame to activate the camera or determine the darkness of the sun glass lens. If a prescription eye glass lens is needed, a prescription lens with a Nominal Base Curve of 2 diopters can be installed by an optometrist. [7]
The eyewear are point of view shot (POV) video glasses with a computer inside the frames with multicore processing, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. The computer inside powers a high-definition camera to either take photographs or record motion picture video with sound. The eyewear software and apps allow integration with mobile devices to live-stream recordings and sound to social networks and YouGen.tv. The YouGen.tv website is an app platform provided and developed by Vergence Labs for Epiphany Eyewear users. [8]
The built-in physical computer memory can store 8 GB, 16 GB or up to 32 GB of data. The power is supplied by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Operations are powered by a tiny USB connection from the eyewear frames to a power source.[ citation needed ]
Snap Inc. acquired Vergence Labs, Inc. and its subsidiary Epiphany Eyewear in order to develop a product called Spectacles (product). Vergence Labs, Inc., the stockholders and Vergence Labs’ CEO Erick Miller as the stockholders’ agent, approved the stock purchase agreement and Vergence Labs, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Snapchat in early 2014. [9] [10] [11]
Epiphany Eyewear were developed by Vergence Labs Co-Founder & CEO Erick Miller; [12] Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer Jon Rodriguez, [13] a former Facebook Engineer Peter Brook, [14] Product Designer David Meisenholder who designed the GL-20 Polaroid video glasses for Lady Gaga, [15] and a former Lenovo Global Product Marketing Manager Cory Grenier. [16]
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses and spectacles, are vision eyewear with clear or tinted lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms, known as temples or temple pieces, that rest over the ears.
Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate based in Milan. As a vertically integrated company, Luxottica designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails its eyewear brands all through its own subsidiaries. The company, presently organized as a subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica which formed when the Italian conglomerate merged with the French optical firm Essilor, is the world's largest company in its industry, both prior to and after its merger with Essilor.
Ray-Ban is a brand of luxury sunglasses and eyeglasses created in 1936 by Bausch & Lomb. The brand is best known for its Wayfarer and Aviator lines of sunglasses. In 1999, Bausch & Lomb sold the brand to Italian eyewear conglomerate Luxottica Group for a reported $640 million.
A virtual retinal display (VRD), also known as a retinal scan display (RSD) or retinal projector (RP), is a display technology that draws a raster display directly onto the retina of the eye.
Eyewear is a term used to refer to all devices worn over both of a person's eyes, or occasionally a single eye, for one or more of a variety of purposes. Though historically used for vision improvement and correction, eyewear has also evolved into eye protection, for fashion and aesthetic purposes, and starting in the late 20th century, computers and virtual reality.
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Erick Miller is a CEO, technology entrepreneur and investor who began his career building startups during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s in San Francisco, California. Miller is the Founder and CEO of CoinCircle, and founding managing director of Hyperspeed Ventures and the former CEO and Founder of Vergence Labs, a company known for designing and developing wearable computer enabled video streaming glasses under the brand name Epiphany Eyewear as well as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) eyewear.
An optical head-mounted display (OHMD) is a wearable device that has the capability of reflecting projected images as well as allowing the user to see through it. In some cases, this may qualify as augmented reality (AR) technology. OHMD technology has existed since 1997 in various forms, but despite a number of attempts from industry, has yet to have had major commercial success.
Smartglasses or smart glasses are eye or head-worn wearable computers that offer useful capabilities to the user. Many smartglasses include displays that add information alongside or to what the wearer sees. Alternatively, smartglasses are sometimes defined as glasses that are able to change their optical properties, such as smart sunglasses that are programmed to change tint by electronic means. Alternatively, smartglasses are sometimes defined as glasses that include headphone functionality.
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Spectacles are smartglasses dedicated to recording video for the Snapchat service. This term is often used to address sunglasses and eyeglasses. They feature a camera lens and are capable of recording short video segments and syncing with a smartphone to upload to the user's online account. They were developed and manufactured by Snap Inc., and announced on September 23, 2016. The smartglasses were released on November 10, 2016. They are made for Snap's image messaging and multimedia platform, Snapchat, and were initially distributed exclusively through Snap's pop-up vending machine, Snapbot. On February 20, 2017, Snap Spectacles became available for purchase online.
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Everysight Ltd. is an Israeli technology company established in 2014 as a spinoff of Elbit Systems. Everysight develops smartglasses based on augmented reality technology for the civilian market. The company's main product is Raptor smartglasses.
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Project Iris is the codename for an unreleased augmented reality (AR) headset designed and developed by Google. It was intended to resemble ordinary eyeglasses and expected to be released in 2024, until its cancellation in early 2023.