Intel Introduces New Smart Glasses

Intel has developed a pair of smart glasses that won't make you look like a hopeless geek. The new glasses, dubbed “Vaunt”, are still in the prototype phase. They look like ordinary glasses, with a faint, red glimmer that occasionally appears on the right lens.

Information sent to the glasses appear to be displayed on a screen but in reality is beamed to the retina of a wearer's eye. In a review published in The Verge, Dieter Bohn wrote: “The prototypes I wore in December also felt virtually indistinguishable from regular glasses. They come in several styles, work with prescriptions, and can be worn comfortably all day”.

Constant Focus

Vaunt uses Bluetooth and is designed to work with a smartphone, much as smartwatches do. A very low-powered laser (VCSEL) shines a red monochrome image at around 400 x 150 pixels onto a holographic reflector on the right lens of the glasses. That image is sent to the back of the eyeball, directly to the retina. Because the image is sent directly to the retina, it's always in focus, which is why the system works on both prescription and non-prescription glasses.

In his review, Bohn said that the Intel prototype did not have a microphone, however, he expected that future models may have one that would enable them to interact with artificial intelligence software like Amazon's Alexa, Google's Assistant or Apple's Siri.

He also revealed that Intel will be launching an early access program for developers later this year, so they can start experimenting with things the glasses might be able to do.

Limited Capacities

While you may not stick out in a crowd wearing Vaunt, you're not going to overwhelm anyone with its power, either. Eric Abbruzzese, a senior analyst at ABI Research commented on Intel’s new innovation saying that the new glasses has no camera, touchpad, or microphone.

Humble applications: Abbruzzese explained during an interview with TechNewsWorld: “That means these are only going to serve the simplest applications, mainly around notifications, navigation, step-by-step instruction, and personal notifications.”

For her part, Kristen Hanich, an analyst at Parks Associates said: “It's a pretty light-touch device, so it mostly allows users to see contextual information such as notifications from phones, map directions, recipes, shopping lists and such.”

Augmented reality devices like Vaunt have been used in settings such as manufacturing, logistics and healthcare, Hanich noted. However, a lot of those applications are being driven by more powerful devices such as Google Glass and Microsoft's HoloLens that have the ability to see what's directly in front of the user.

However, Vaunt’s potential to attract the regular consumer may not be an easy task. Experts see that it hasn't solved one of Google Glass' primary downfalls, which was lack of valuable use cases for consumers.

Hanich said that consumers will have to be sold on the value of Vaunt, but that sell will be easier if the price is right. If it's priced similar to a smart watch, then there'll be some potential there, she noted.

Not a Gamer choice. Gaming is one area that's attracted consumer interest in virtual reality and augmented reality devices, but Vaunt isn't likely to make much headway in that market. "The device is too simplistic for any visually intensive applications," Abbruzzese said.

Power is another issue for Vaunt. Hanich noted that the glasses don't have cameras, or a lot of processing ability, or the ability to display data in any color besides red. “Something like Pokémon Go may work on them, but developers will have to sacrifice graphics and the ability to display an object in sync with the terrain," she explained.

However, there are some advantages of not having a camera. Hanich said: “Part of the backlash against Google Glass was that the glasses were so conspicuous, including a visible camera. Without a camera, Vaunt has few problems in terms of privacy."

Futuristic Market

Although devices like Vaunt are creating a buzz now, it likely will be a year or two before AR glasses make it to the mass market. ABI predicted that the inflection point for consumer AR headgear likely will be in the late 2019-early 2020 time frame. Abbruzzese considered that it really requires strong brands and marketing to push AR glasses to the masses. Apple has such a brand, and it is rumored to have a pair of AR specs in the works.

Abbruzzese noted that Vaunt isn't likely to have that sort of impact, but they can be an important bridge between the consumer-side disappointments of Google Glass to a more realistic consumer AR market.

Brian Blau, a research director at Gartner said that Vaunt is a clear sign that wearable display technology is quickly advancing.

Talking to TechNewsWorld, he added that the new glasses represent a form factor that any technology provider would see as a great next step, as it's one that isn't that different from a typical pair of eyeglasses.”

Blau concluded that “we still have some years before smart glasses like Vaunt arrive in consumers’ hands, but it's great to see these early prototypes as they get brands and businesses interested in smart glasses, even at this early stage of their development.”

A deep-diving robot that chiseled into the rocky Pacific seabed at a spot where two of the immense plates comprising Earth's outer shell meet has unearthed a previously unknown realm of animal life thriving underground near hydrothermal vents.

Giant tubeworms - the world's heftiest worms - and other marine invertebrates such as snails and bristle worms were found using the remotely operated underwater vehicle SuBastian. They were living inside cavities within the Earth's crust at an ocean-floor site where the Pacific is 1.56 miles (2,515 meters) deep. All the species were previously known to have lived near such vents, but never underground, Reuters reported.

"We discovered vent animal life in the cavities of the ocean's crust. We now know that the unique hydrothermal vent ecosystem extends into the ocean's crust," said marine biologist Sabine Gollner of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, one of the leaders of the study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

"To our knowledge, it is the first time that animal life has been discovered in the ocean crust," Gollner added.

The exploration was conducted at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge on the floor of the southeastern Pacific, running approximately parallel to South America's west coast. Earth's rigid outer part is divided into colossal plates that move gradually over time in a process called plate tectonics. The East Pacific Rise is located where two such plates are gradually spreading apart.

This area contains many hydrothermal vents, fissures in the seafloor situated where seawater and magma beneath the Earth's crust come together. Magma refers to molten rock that is underground, while lava refers to molten rock that reaches the surface, including the seafloor. New seafloor forms in places where magma is forced upward toward the surface at a mid-ocean ridge and cools to form volcanic rock.

The hydrothermal vents spew into the cold sea the super-heated and chemical-rich water that nourishes microorganisms.

"The warm venting fluids are rich in energy - for example, sulfide - that can be used by microbes, which form the basis of the food-chain," Gollner said.

Life flourishes around the vents - including giant tubeworms reaching lengths of 10 feet (3 meters), mussels, crabs, shrimp, fish and other organisms beautifully adapted to this extreme environment. The giant tubeworms do not eat as other animals do. Instead, bacteria residing in their body in a sack-like organ turn sulfur from the water into energy for the animal.

The researchers deployed SuBastian from the Schmidt Ocean Institute research vessel Falkortoo to the vent site deep below. The robot was equipped with arms that wielded a chisel that the researchers used to dig into the crust and uncover warm and fluid-filled cavities where the tubeworms, bristle worms and snails were spotted.

"We used a chisel to break the rock. We dug about 20 cm (8 inches). The lava plates were about 10 cm (4 inches) thick. The cavities below the lava plates were about 10 cm in height," Gollner said.

Larvae from these animals may invade these subseafloor habitats, the researchers said, in an example of connectivity between the seafloor and underground ecosystems.

"It changed our view on connectedness in the ocean," Gollner said of discovering the subsurface lair.

Intel Introduces New Smart Glasses