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Focals by North — Glasses with a holographic display only you can see 👓📲🤓
Focals are custom-built glasses with a transparent holographic display only you can see. Focals let you see and respond to texts, get turn-by-turn directions, check the weather, request an Uber, talk to Amazon Alexa and more — all without looking away from your surroundings or calling attention to yourself.
Pre-order now: shop.bynorth.com
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Replies
Tom Bielecki
This has potential, if they can extend the functionality through a developer ecosystem etc, but even Apple Watch has had difficulties getting big brands on board. The only thing close to a killer feature I currently see is having a shopping list in front of your eyes. The key ring prevents you from using it while cooking or heavy exercise etc.
I don't know if this is just the marketing spin, but the current product doesn't jump out as being a "must-have" product functionality-wise. It's disappointing that there are only a couple basic utilities, which are already adequately useful with other (cheaper) wearables. Maybe everywhere-access to Alexa is the thing to lean on. But I love the vision in the blog post of giving you superpowers, I just don't see it yet.
Show me how this fits into my life and how nothing else on the market can do what this does.
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Happy to see these release!! Hoping there's a back-ally Waterloo showroom I can check them out in ;)
Feels like this can deliver on the promise of smart watches to provide less disruptive notifications. Despite it being less conspicuous, I still find it disruptive when people I'm meeting with start interacting with their watches.
Is there an easy to engage silent mode?
@krisabraun We have a really simple and easy to access do-not-disturb function for just this reason 🔕
What is your vision for apps and integrations? How controlled or open will the ecosystem be?
@krisabraun @d0b0 any teasers? The platform opportunity here is what I'm most curious about.
@krisabraun @rrhoover no teasers as of now, but I too am very excited for the platform opportunities here. More to come in the future.
@d0b0 are these actually real? Looks like something out of a science-fiction movie.
@d0b0 will there be an option to have the display on the left lens? As a person who's partially blind (in my right eye), I rely on my left eye for pretty much everything. In the past, I've seen AR products with a reliance on the right eye's peripheral vision... I have a feeling I'm not the only person with a fault in that part of my eye-sight and would love if one of the customization options was to choose which lens is the "smart" one.
If anyone wants to join the conversation about weekly updates coming to the glasses, join us over at our subreddit --> https://www.reddit.com/r/focals/
@d0b0 congrats on the launch! Looks super slick. How is By North affiliated with Thalmic, if at all?
@alirtariq It's the same company - we rebranded from Thalmic Labs to North this morning 🚀
Two questions.
- How heavy are these?
- What's the range for phone pairing (distance, I mean)?
Thalmic had that great myo as well.
It's a great concept - love that you can have actual lenses (I need them) - and the joystick ring is fantastic -- but the actual interface seems simplistic, very android watch. Doesn't seem to be extensible in any way, no way to develop for it?
@grimmwerks we are 100% focused on understanding the form factor as we design and develop so that we can better understand how to make it extensible in the future. The experiences are focused on short, immediate interactions that help you get what you need quickly and nothing more. So by that logic it's simple on purpose!
Does it have to be prescription glasses? I don't wear any. But I use those for computer screens.
Wow super interesting! @d0b0 when can we expect to be able to purchase the glasses in the UK?
@ems_hodge 👋nothing to share about international expansion right now but we'll be opening more stores in the near future. We'll keep you posted!
@d0b0 Looks like a scene from a Kingsmen movie... Amazing to see it as a reality now! 🙏 🙌 Curious - what's the ring for? (next to the glasses in one of the stock photos)
@kaivalyagandhi That's Loop, it's a small ring with a 4-way joystick that lets you interact with Focals!
Congrats on the launch guys! This feels like the right progression from Glass.. super exciting!
Judging by the site + Alexa integration these won't be tied to any particular OS?
Ps. love the new name 😉
@chrisbuttenham We learned a lot from watching and using Glass and we've made some very deliberate decisions based on those learnings!
In terms of OS, works with both Android and iOS.
PS. Thanks, we do too 🤓