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Google Acquires North

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Re: Google Acquires North

#191

Post by donavanm »

gffrd wrote: post #158
michaelmior wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got an invitation today to purchase Echo Frames[0], Amazon's smart glasses. I'm a little on the fence but early reviews seem pretty promising. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Staging-Product-Not-Retail-Sale/dp/B0...

I'm curious: what's the use case you're interested in these for? And what makes these more appealing than, say, earbuds that offer the same functionality?

The alexa and bose offerings are pretty similar from what I can tell. Functionality wise its not much more than BT headphones with mic and some limited surface controls. The benefit to both is the open ear audio. They dont impede sounds around you. This may be important to you if you need spacial awareness for things like sport and navigation.

Re: Google Acquires North

#192

Post by s3r3nity »

Just more proof that Google needs to acquire companies to compete:

- Phones? Google buys Motorolla and HTC's smartphone division.

- Watches? Google buys Fitbit and Fossil (the smartwatch side)

- AR? Google buys North

I don't know why Google's Product team gets the prestige it does, when the last successful product it _didn't_ buy was GMail.

Re: Google Acquires North

#193

Post by m0zg »

s3r3nity wrote: post #192

Just more proof that Google needs to acquire companies to compete: - Phones? Google buys Motorolla and HTC's smartphone division. - Watches? Google buys Fitbit and Fossil (the smartwatch side) - AR? Google buys North I don't know why Google's Product team gets the prestige it does, when the last successful product it _didn't_ buy was GMail.

Google has failed to compete in all three of those things (in terms of hardware), so maybe they need to stop trying the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result.

Re: Google Acquires North

#195

Post by matznerd »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #20
rattray wrote: post #14

North was previously known as Thalmic labs, and their first product was the Myo, a gesture-based input device. More recently, they created Focals, a smart glasses product. More on their blog here: https://www.bynorth.com/

I backed the Myo, and I think I was waiting to see that killer app show up for it that I felt like actually using the thing. I don't think it ever came, despite my excitement for the concept. Will the thing still work if I hook it up? I don't even know. As a Bluetooth device, I feel like it should be possible, but I don't know if it has any cloud service dependencies. EDIT: Answer my own question, North's website doe…

I used it for presentations and liked it conceptually because you would be able to advance the slides with the flick of a wrist and without having to hold a clicker. The problem was that it would always unlock from hand gestures and the software was glitchy. Still, it had a lot of potential.

Re: Google Acquires North

#196

Post by verdverm »

Kiro wrote: post #153
verdverm wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't want to interact with those things using your hands or frisbee a photo to a friend, bouncing it off of a wall? (Physics applied to a UI system aware of surroundings is so much fun!)

Of course but that's a different use case and different hardware. I believe we're talking about two completely different devices and markets here.

Currently, but I everyone who's tried it is blown away by how good it is. So yes, they are different devices, but I fully expect there to be huge demand, that most smart glasses will have hand tracking, and that the end of the smart phone is without doubt.

BTW, the HL2 was design for sharing and privacy from the get go. It is after all the basis for next gen military helmets

Re: Google Acquires North

#197

Post by matznerd »

lordnacho wrote: post #4

Cool, who here has tried Focals by North? I was thinking of getting them for everyday walking around and reading. My problem is I still don't understand what the interface is like. Can it project a screen to it or not? I'm perfectly happy to see a translucent IDE/browser window in my field of view.

The screen was meh, but I thought the real innovation was that it was controlled by a ring worn on the pointer finger that was manipulated with the thumb. Aesthetically, it looked fairly normal, but it had a joystick on it to control the screen [1]. With iterations it could have been something that blended in as jewelry, yet was useful for interfacing. The real innovation was that you didn't have to raise your hand to your temple to manipulate it or use voice commands.

I think a big issue with wearable computers will be input devices. I have trained with the 1-handed chorded keyboards, such as the twiddler, and am up to 30 wpm, but its not easy and I don't think people will be willing to make that kind of adjustment. Even so, you still have to then constantly carry the input device around and have it in your hand. A "hands free" input device like the ring, or an improved Myo style band, will still be needed for any wearable that is used in a non-private setting, where voice commands are not ideal (unless its a throat mic).

[1] Pic of ring controller via gizmodo https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dimse/5845cadfecd996e0372f/94746...

Re: Google Acquires North

#198

Post by chillfox »

csunbird wrote: post #62
vikramkr wrote: post #2

I guess the competition for smart glasses is heating up - I imagine google thinks apple's glasses are coming soon and they take that seriously enough to want to be prepared to compete. It will be interesting to see how this space plays out. If it's anything like smart watches, the market is going to turn around with apple's entrance, and buying north now while they're suffering gives google the tech they need to ente…

I wonder if they are going to make the glasses work with prescription glasses.

This has been the greatest mistake of past smart glasses attempts as far as I can tell. There is a segment of the population who are not only ok with wearing glasses, but used to it. But do they ever make a product that works for us? no.

I tried Google glass back when Google brought it to a local IT conference and was told that a prescription version was unnecessary because it could be adjusted. It couldn't be adjusted to work for me, and even if it could have then I would still need prescription glasses to see everything else.

Re: Google Acquires North

#199

Post by chillfox »

smohnot wrote: post #12
lordnacho wrote: post #4

Cool, who here has tried Focals by North? I was thinking of getting them for everyday walking around and reading. My problem is I still don't understand what the interface is like. Can it project a screen to it or not? I'm perfectly happy to see a translucent IDE/browser window in my field of view.

I tried them at a pop-up the company had in SF; it was an awful experience. The employees of the pop up didn't know how to use the product, when they brought out a pair that fit my (very normal) face, I could barely see the screen on it, the interface was weird (there is a ring that you wear) and it was very buggy with ios (heard it was better with android). They said I would need to buy a pair for it to fit me and m…

"I can't imagine that anyone would be ready to fork over $1k for something that you can't really try out"

That's pretty much what the normal experience is for buying prescription glasses. You try on the frame to see if it is comfortable, but you can't try out the prescription in the frame until a week after you have ordered them.

Re: Google Acquires North

#200

Post by chillfox »

nradov wrote: post #50

I was hoping that North would license their display technology to someone that would build practical smart sunglasses for endurance athletes. There are a few heads-up display products available now for cyclists but they are all flawed in various ways, and there's nothing that works for runners. Unfortunately I don't think Google understands or cares about the sports tech market. From a customer perspective I would pa…

And I could use a pair that could display some data from AvPlan EFB while I am flying, but everyone wants to chase general purpose instead of starting with a niche and then growing it.
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