A start-up company based in Vancouver has created Recon Jet, a smart eyewear that can rival Google Glass, specifically designed for athletes and sports enthusiasts.
Manufacturer Recon Instruments is known for skiing headgear - a popular set of goggles that come with a head-up display (HUD). The Recon Jet springboards from that idea and is designed for warmer weather sports such as biking, running, and mountain climbing, among others.
While the Google Glass has been criticized for looking a bit odd, the Recon Jet looks like any pair of sunglasses, albeit with some add-ons. The display of this wearable eye technology appears on the bottom right of the field of vision of the user while the battery is located on the left side of the device.
The Recon Jet is designed to give the user a performance feedback as it monitors the heart rate, speed, distance covered and other vital statistics.
The wearale piece of technology also doubles as a notification center for the user's mobile phone. It can also show incoming calls, text messages and social media updates.
If Google Glass is designed for walking around, the Recon Jet gets more extreme. While it may not be a direct competitor of the Google Glass, the Recon Jet can capitalize on the buzz the Google Glass has been creating.
"We do not aspire to be the general purpose device you wear when walking around in daily life but the device you need when you're engaged in a specific activity at a very high level," said Tim Fowler, chief marketing at Recon Instruments, in an interview with VentureBeat.
According to the Recon Jet's tech specs, the ultra-compact display is seen by the user as a 30-inch high definition screen about seven feet away.
The Recon Jet weighs less than an ounce and distributes this perfectly between the two sides of the device. It has a dual core 1Ghz chip, Wi-Fi, graphics chip, HD camera, mic and speakers, GPS, Bluetooth and an ANT+ used for device communication. It also comes with a host of sensors such as an altimeter, gyroscope, magnetometer, accelerometer and thermometer.
Pre-order for the Recon Jet kicked off June 26 with the device bearing a $499 tag price. Its official market launch will be in December with the price going up to $600. The street price of Google Glass is estimated at $1,000 and above.
The company is still developing apps for the Recon Jet in-house but it said that SDK will be available soon.
Watch Recon Jet in action in the video below:
