Daqri Smart Glasses are designed for your boss at your future factory

Everyone's vying for your face at CES.

Scott Stein Editor at Large

I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.

Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials

Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps

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Scott Stein

Jan. 3, 2017 3:16 p.m. PT

2 min read

Maybe, in your future robotics assembly plant, you'll be wearing a pair of augmented reality smart glasses, linked into your coworker's viewpoint as you help them align joints. At least, that's Daqri's plan.

At last year's CES , the eye-catchingly odd Daqri Smart Helmet was announced. The helmet was designed for factory-type enterprise locations where hands-free work was required. Unlike Microsoft's HoloLens, it was designed to be a bit more rugged. But now Daqri's latest product wants to find a lower-key way into your industrial office.

Daqri's newest streamlined product is more like a pair of superwide glasses, similar to what other competitors like ODG and Epson offer. Daqri's press release promises heads-up guided work instructions, a co-worker observation mode where someone could wear a pair and see their companion's POV and give guidance, and indoor/outdoor use. The Smart Glasses connect to desktop PCs , but we haven't had a chance to demo a pair yet.

How one might use smart glasses at a factory.
Daqri

Here are some photos provided by Daqri of the smart glasses in everyday corporate use, though, to satisfy your James Cameron sci-fi fantasies. Daqri will start taking reservations for its Smart Glasses at CES, with the cost for a developer edition coming in around $5,000. Daqri promises a wider field of view than the competition, with what they call 44 degrees per eye. The Smart Glasses use USB-C to connect, and can work across Linux or Windows, supporting CAD software and working with Unity for developers. They won't be compatible with Microsoft's Windows Holographic environment, however. That's a shame, because there's going to be a lot of competition in the smart glasses space.

Then again, if I were building an aircraft in the future, I'd probably want to wear one of these, too.