Thalmic Labs gets patents for smart glasses
Patent filings indicate glasses will feature hologram technology
KITCHENER — It looks like smart glasses featuring hologram technology will be the much-anticipated product Thalmic Labs is coming out with.
Earlier this week, the United States Patents and Trade Mark Office granted three patents for smart glasses to the startup headquartered at 24 Charles St. W. in downtown Kitchener.
For the past two years, the company has been quiet about its new product even as it opened a factory on Roger Street in Waterloo to manufacture the device. Thalmic would only say it was working on a new product that is wearable technology for consumers. Even with patent protection in place, it isn’t saying anything about its bold move into an area that has frustrated much larger corporations. It declined to comment on Thursday.
But Thalmic’s filings with the patent office provide a window into the development of the smart glasses.
According to the filings, a scanning-laser projector, hologram technology, microprocessor, eye-tracking cameras and microphone will all be contained within the frames. The glasses may also include a thermometer and compass. The devices will have one, possibly two power sources, a wireless transceiver for sending and receiving wireless communications, and a tethered connector port for plugging into a computer for recharging.
The hologram technology is designed to project a clear, crisp image of a small computer screen in front of the user’s eye.
It is essentially a computer than is worn on the face. The technical term is “wearable heads-up display.”
Google tried this and failed. It released a beta version of Google Glass in 2013 to a few thousand users. It was activated with the words “OK Glass.” A user could look at a sign in a foreign language and have an English translation appear on a screen in front of their eye. They could record video and sound, consult maps and menus.
By June 2015 Google cancelled plans for a wider launch. Critics said the Google device looked dorky. Fist fights were reported in Bay Area bars when people refused to remove the devices. Movie producers worried about a new, formidable generation of technology-enabled piracy.
But Thalmic is betting a stylish design will help it succeed where Google failed. “The optical performance of a wearable heads-up display is an important factor in its design. When it comes to face-worn devices, however, users also care a lot about esthetics. This is clearly highlighted by the immensity of the eyeglass (including sunglass) frame industry,” according to the patent filings.
Earlier attempts at smart glasses “have struggled to find traction in consumer markets because, at least in part, they lack fashion appeal,” says the patent application. The devices were bulkier and less stylish than conventional eyeglass frames.
Founded in 2012 by Stephen Lake, Aaron Grant and Matthew Bailey, Thalmic has always been about human-computer interaction. It built the Myo armband, which turns electrical signals from moving muscles into computer commands. Myo can be used to play computer games, control prosthetics, stage live shows and control computers.
Since launching in 2015, Myo has generated more than $10 million in sales, Lake says on his LinkedIn profile.
The startup raised $14.5 million in venture capital in June 2013, and another US$120 million two years ago. That second round of investment was used to develop the smart glasses. Writing in the magazine “Information Age,” Lake gave some clues about what Thalmic was developing.
“Wearable technology is only at the very beginning of what will be a massive shift in the way we interact with technology. Because of this, we feel as though technology is taking over our lives, but in truth we are still at the first stage of connecting computers with ourselves,” he wrote.
“Forget the cyborg vision of the future — we are on the cusp of developments that are much more subtle; more in tune with our human instincts so that with a flick of the wrist or a blink of the eye we can both summon and dismiss technology to suit our will and our individual requirements.”