Next month, ChatGPT will be going where it’s never gone before: on your face, thanks to the February launch of Lucyd’s new line of audio-powered smart glasses called Nautica.
Shipping in late January, the device collection brings OpenAI’s bots to new frontiers in fashion through a partnership between Innovative Eyewear and Authentic Brands Group. That’s just the beginning. The licensing agreement means that Eddie Bauer-branded smart glasses will soon be available in March, with Reebok to follow at the end of the second quarter. Innovative’s Lucyd (pronounced “lucid”) platform powers ABG’s portfolio with its Lucyd collection of in-house smart glasses.
It’s natural to wonder if the world needs more smart glasses, especially since little demand for this category has been revealed. But Innovative and ABG are betting that their blend of fashion-driven approach, affordable pricing, and advanced features, combined with the hot technology that sparked the current AI boom, will resonate with consumers. .
Innovative Eyewear CEO Harrison Gross believes there are similarities between smartwatches and smart glasses. “[Smartwatches are] It offers essentially the same form factor as a regular designer watch, with more features at about the same price point, and stands out from smart eyewear, which has the same price as regular glasses but has more features. It’s easy,” he told WWD. .
Nautica’s smart glasses “Spyglass”
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Unlike Meta’s Ray-Ban, designed by EssilorLuxottica, these devices do not have a built-in camera. The Lucyd glasses are audio-only and connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth 5.2. The frame has open-air speakers, and the microphone is controlled by a physical button, so it’s not always on to listen. This gives him 12 hours of music playback and calls on a single charge, extending the lifespan of the gadget. Playing songs, listening to podcasts, making calls, and interacting with your voice assistant takes a significant amount of time.
In terms of baseline functionality, these devices compare to Amazon’s Echo Frames, except that advanced commands (in this case ChatGPT functionality) go through Lucyd instead of Alexa.
The concept of using wearables as a “gateway” to multiple AI systems is part of the company’s extensive patent portfolio, covering 109 patents and applications. It may sound complicated, but it actually works pretty seamlessly. Connecting the bot requires a little setup, but after that it’s pretty intuitive. A long press will summon Siri or Google Assistant, and a casual mention of “Lucyd” will launch his OpenAI bot. In real-world use, the glasses can easily navigate between systems, summon directions in Apple Maps, answer questions about how many miles is the distance between the Earth and the Moon (approximately 239,000 miles), and even write a haiku from scratch I was even able to do that.
Of course, that doesn’t mean anything if the user doesn’t want to wear the device. This is where practicality meets fashion and is the most important turning point for all Lucyd models.
“Our products are designed for people who wear prescription glasses all day or sunglasses all day… [and] “The closest resemblance to regular eyewear is critical to consumer adoption of smart eyewear products,” Gross said.
Ironically, he believes that connected eyewear manufacturers are quite short-sighted when it comes to fashion, offering ample choice. “That is sorely lacking in the smart eyewear market,” he continued. “Nearly all of our products were designed for men, with no consideration whatsoever for all the other demographics of people who could use this product. That’s something we pay close attention to. , is the focus of the designer.”
Wayfarer frames are popular with high-tech manufacturers because they can easily hide components in a thick, plastic-like frame. Gross said his company has come up with a different product design that allows for more flexibility, allowing the electronics to be carried only on the arm and the front plate, which is attached to the face, to be interchangeable.
“Surge”, like other styles, can accommodate not only prescription lenses but also sunglass lenses.
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This is a creative approach, but it has its pros and cons. This design with a lightweight front plate can affect the balance of the glasses and shift the weight towards your arms. The left and right sides are also not connected, so you need to charge them separately.
However, this schematic allows Innovative to create a much wider range of looks than the limited selection of other smart glasses. Our own brand, Lucyd, offers a total of 21 styles, including metallic and titanium versions, as well as designs for women, people with wide faces, and younger users. We also manufacture smart safety glasses for industrial environments.
ABG has 18 types of glass in preparation. Eight models of Nautica alone are scheduled to be released. Eddie Bauer plans to release something like a capsule collection of four styles, and Reebok currently has six styles planned.
Their success will likely determine whether other companies follow suit. Perhaps the fashion industry as a whole, but certainly ABG itself, as he has a multi-year licensing agreement with Innovative Eyewear.