Life moves pretty fast If you don't stop every once in a while to look around, you might miss something And augmented reality (AR) smart glasses are one way to look around and miss less The problem is that many smart glasses are dumb at best, ugly at worst--Google Glass being the case

However, at CES 2021, Vuzix announced a new smart glass that we might actually want to wear As of now, the official model name, detailed specs, price, and release date for this new smart glass are unknown However, it does give us a glimpse of what to expect in the future of smart glasses

At first glance, Vuzix's new smart glasses look like the glasses worn by painfully trendy people at hipster cocktail bars But upon closer inspection, there's more going on than that

One of the most interesting parts of Vuxiz's specifications, developed in collaboration with Jade Bird Display, is that they utilize a tiny micro-LED display projector that projects images onto the glasses' lenses This "display engine" allows the projector to be positioned on either side of the glasses and, using Vuzix's waveguide technology, essentially illuminates the lens with a color or black-and-white image

It is not immediately clear what content the glasses will project onto the wearer's field of vision However, given that the glasses are compatible with iOS and Android, one would expect them to display things like notifications, directions, or information about places and stores of interest while wandering around

Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LTE support, noise-canceling microphones and stereo speakers Gesture-based controls are also a feature, presumably to help access and dismiss notifications, etc, without having to reach for the phone paired with the glasses

AR smart glasses are not widely used in the consumer technology world (as an example see North's Focals) and tend to be used more in business and industry However, if Vuzix can make moderately stylish, less expensive smart glasses, smart glasses for all may make a comeback

Also, since Apple seems to be working on an uncreative smart glass named Apple Glass, there may be a resurgence of smart glasses in the near future that will fill the gap left by the much-maligned Google Glass