Last week someone asked Corbeau, ‘So what’s happening in the world of microLED displays?’ After the US launch of Apple’s new Vision Pro 2 mixed reality headset back in February this year, it’s a good question to ask.
The answer is that the Metaverse is a bit flat. Tim Cook’s company’s first major new product in ten years was a jaw-dropping piece of tech, with 3D imaging and gesture control. Offering totally or partially immersive user experiences for work and play, Apple devotees placed around 160,000 advanced orders for the Vision Pro. Wider take-up has been slow. Why? The $3.5k price tag could be one reason but the real issue is that whereas Steve Jobs’ iPhone connected people, Tim Cook’s Vision Pro simply doesn’t. A user hides behind giant ski-goggles displaying a false image of their own eyes. Friends or colleagues in the same room are left to wonder what their isolating buddies are looking at or listening to.
Like Moses coming down from mount Sinai, Vision Pro users might well have experienced a mighty revelation but they struggle to share it with lesser mortals.
What’s new?
Augmented Reality company Vuzix has partnered with Boston start-up Xander to make it a whole lot easier to share mighty revelations and more mundane messages. Xander’s goal is to help people with hearing loss understand their friends and work colleagues. Their technology is a brilliant alternative to conventional hearing aids. Xander have adapted Vuzix AR glasses to display words spoken by people talking to you. No smartphone tethering required, just pop them on and read what folk say to you.
Solution for a problem
Anyone with conventional hearing aids will tell you how they can transform your life but at the same time how frustrating they are to use. Frequent complaints are that batteries are fiddly to insert and that in-ear plugs get uncomfortable or itchy, which means older people with loss of hearing tend to use them infrequently. A growing body of research is showing that social isolation in older people leads not only to loneliness but also cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases.
Technical details
Xander hearing glasses are based on Vuzix’s Shield augmented reality glasses. Vuzix produce a range of AR glasses, targeted at specific groups of users. For example engineers needing to read an instruction manual while wielding a wrench or pharmacists who must dispense and check formulations and counter-indications at the same time. This has set them apart from big tech behemoths like Apple and Meta who have chosen to develop products for the masses. Vuzix produces products for the niches.
Xander glasses have a speech recognition engine powered by a built-in microprocessor and battery power, making them independent of phones and wifi reception. Monochrome text is displayed in front of users eyes using Vuzix’s proprietary waveguide technology and 1 micron pitch microLED array device chip. Xander claims greater than 90% accuracy for its speech recognition.
Market needs
Paul Travers, CEO of Vuzix, explains that both Vuzix and Xander have similar business models: to use technology to meet the real-life needs of their customers.
In fact Xander has made a point of beta testing with groups of users with hearing loss, including the US Veterans Association. A product video shows a slightly sceptical looking Vet about to put on Xander glasses for the first time and then his smiling face as he gives his feedback.
Hearing loss is a big issue, something like 48 million people in the USA experience hearing loss and everyone can expect to experience some loss after the age of 40.
At $3-4k, Xander glasses are in the same price bracket as Apple’s Vision Pro. Expensive for sure but very comparable with top-end conventional hearing aids.
Future prospects
Will Xander become a $billion business? Only time will tell but the needs of a huge global market are currently served by an unsatisfactory competing technology. If Xander and Vuzix can work together to drive economies of scale and find appropriate distribution partners, we could be hearing a lot more from them.
Images courtesy of Xander.com