The biggest consumer electronics extravaganza CES’17 is steadily gaining momentum and Lenovo is currently leading the pack with its new and innovative technology products. But the Chinese hardware behemoth is topping off its launch event with a sneak peak at the prototype of a Google Glass-inspired smart spectacle product. Mass production is expected to start in June 2017.
Called the ‘New Glass C200,’ this smart glass product defines the company’s foray into a segment that has largely been unexplored by other technology giants. It leverages two of the prominent technologies — augmented reality and artificial intelligence — into this smart wearable that runs on Linux. The primary use case of this monocular smart glasses unit has been defined for businesses and enterprises. The official blog post details the same saying,
This smart glass solution has the capability to provide commercial customers the ability to better perform their jobs, access information faster, connect with remote co-workers easily and so much more.
The Google Glass existed as a standalone product with the processing system built right into the frame of the product but Lenovo is planning to do something completely different. Instead of baking in the complete brains of the system into the frame, it is breaking down the glasses product into two modules, namely a Glass Unit and Pocket Unit. This move, the company says, will provide an improved and user-friendly wearable experience.
Starting off with the Glass Unit, let’s take a closer look at the specifications of the two prototype units. Weighing just under 60 grams, it will enhance the user’s perception by augmenting the glass in front of their eyes with info simultaneous to the real world. The Glass Unit sports a camera lens and sensors on the right-hand side of the frame to capture live feeds and analyse them. The Pocket Unit, however, comes into action after downloading the New Glass app to your smartphone — which sits in the said unit.
This combination of modules has been designed to enhance the performance of the smart glass by using more processing power and an LTE connection. It then uses the computer vision capabilities of its AI recognition software NBD Martin to identify and label objects in the real world. It also has the power to analyse the data coming in from the camera lens and combine the same with user interactions deduced by the AI assistant to provide commercial users with access to a cohort of tools.
Talking about the same, Lenovo feels that the new smart glass product can be used for:
The New Glass C200 allows you to gather information in your field of view, provide step-by-step directions and instructions for repair, identify disabled equipment and troubleshoot issues with a remote colleague all while your hands are free.
In addition, Lenovo is taking the wraps off its complementary software platform Lenovo NBD Titan to enable developers to create and edit AR content on the fly. This is aimed at providing a cross-platform visual editing solution for quick development on a multitude of devices. It is further augmented with R Content Builder and Space Visitor which enable editing of AR scenes seamlessly.
This prototype release falls in line with Lenovo’s focus on enterprise and business solutions. It already provides clients with compatible PCs, smartphones, servers and other hardware products from its portfolio but is adding to it with an innovative product in the wearable market.
