Having finished its production tooling and having cleared regulatory hurdles (and we’d love to hear more about that), Vuzix announced today that it’s starting commercial shipment of its M100 industrial smart glasses. Developers and back-orders are first in line; everyone else will get them in two to four weeks. The company’s website claims that the M100 is “the world’s first commercially available smart glasses.”
The Android-based M100 is no one’s idea of a fashion item; the company is positioning it for industrial uses. It shows users a 16:9 aspect ratio image that looks like a 4-inch phone screen held 14 inches from your face. It attaches either to safety glasses or an over-the-head band (like a phone headset). The device incorporates a gyro, accelerometer, and compass as well as WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 radios. Life of the onboard 600mAh battery is claimed at 6 hours, and a 3800mAh belt battery is available.
Price is $999.