Amazon is reportedly working on Alexa-enabled smart glasses
It’s 2017 and smart glasses haven’t really taken off like you think they might have. Google Glass — as a consumer product — was a grisly failure and while Snapchat Spectacles have had a little more success, they’re far from becoming mainstream. That might soon change, however, with Amazon’s latest hardware venture.
The online shopping juggernaut has reportedly been hard at work on creating Alexa-enabled smart glasses. Unlike Google Glass, there wont be a screen of any sort display or a camera (like we’ve seen with Spectacles). Instead, the glasses will be audio-only, allowing you to speak and hear commands directly from Amazon’s voice-controlled virtual assistant, Alexa. Bone-conducting technology will be at work, so you don’t have to worry about using an earpiece of any kind, making them as unobtrusive as your normal set of specs.
Google Glass founder Babak Parviz was reportedly hired by Amazon back in 2014, so it’s entirely possible he’s lending his expertise to help build these Alexa Glasses. The Alexa-enabled glasses are said to be due out by the end of year, along with a slew of Amazon-made home security products. Should Alexa Glasses become a hit, who knows, maybe we’ll see more, better equipped models with HUDs or cameras built into them. Would you be willing to give them a shot?
Financial Times | via Engadget