Epiphany Eyewear
DeveloperVergence Labs
TypePoint of View Shot ( POV) Augmented reality (AR), optical head-mounted display (OHMD), Wearable technology, Wearable computer
Release dateDevelopers (US): May 2011 (May 2011)[1] Consumers: 2013 (2013)
Introductory price8GB($299 USD), 16GB($399 USD), 32GB($499 USD)
Storage8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB
ConnectivityWi-Fi, micro USB
Powerlithium ion battery
Backward
compatibility		Laptop, desktop or Epiphany-capable phone or tablet running the YouGen.TV application

Epiphany Eyewear are smartglasses developed by Vergence Labs.[2] The glasses record video stored within the glasses' hardware for live-stream upload to a computer or social media.[3] The glasses use smartphone technology. The head mounted display is a mobile computer and a high-definition camera.[4][failed verification] The glasses take photographic images, record or stream video to a smartphone or computer tablet.[5]

The style of the eyewear frames is similar to the basic designer-like frames made famous and worn by Buddy Holly.[6] The multifunction plastic titanium framed glasses are controlled by pressing tactile buttons on the sidebar of the frame to activate the camera or determine the darkness of the sun glass lens. If a prescription eye glass lens is needed, a prescription lens with a Nominal Base Curve of 2 diopters can be installed by an optometrist.[7]

Hardware

The eyewear are point of view shot (POV) video glasses with a computer inside the frames with multicore processing, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. The computer inside powers a high-definition camera to either take photographs or record motion picture video with sound. The eyewear software and apps allow integration with mobile devices to live-stream recordings and sound to social networks and YouGen.tv. The YouGen.tv website is an app platform provided and developed by Vergence Labs for Epiphany Eyewear users.[8]

The built-in physical computer memory can store 8 GB, 16 GB or up to 32 GB of data. The power is supplied by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Operations are powered by a tiny USB connection from the eyewear frames to a power source.[citation needed]

Vergence Labs acquisition

Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari

Snap Inc. acquired Vergence Labs, Inc. and its subsidiary Epiphany Eyewear in order to develop a product called Spectacles (product). Vergence Labs, Inc., the stockholders and Vergence Labs’ CEO Erick Miller as the stockholders’ agent, approved the stock purchase agreement and Vergence Labs, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Snapchat in early 2014.[9][10][11]

Epiphany Eyewear were developed by Vergence Labs Co-Founder & CEO Erick Miller;[12] Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer Jon Rodriguez,[13] a former Facebook Engineer Peter Brook,[14] Product Designer David Meisenholder who designed the GL-20 Polaroid video glasses for Lady Gaga,[15] and a former Lenovo Global Product Marketing Manager Cory Grenier.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Takahashi, Dean (5 April 2013). "Why wait for Google Glass? Epiphany Eyewear is here now (exclusive)". Venture Beat. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  2. ^ Geron, Tomio (1 June 2012). "DNA To Dollhouses: Stanford's StartX Accelerator Launches New Batch Of Startups". Forbes. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  3. ^ Weidner, David (11 November 2012). "Monetize, Monetize, Monetize". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  4. ^ Saenz, Aaron (4 September 2012). "Talking With the Founders of Vergence Labs: First Steps Towards Merging Man and Machine". Singularity Hub. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  5. ^ Wadhwa, Vivek (23 April 2013). "Wearable tech and the futurists' conundrum". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  6. ^ McGauley, Joe (5 April 2013). "Tech'd up glasses you won't be embarrassed to wear". Thrillist. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  7. ^ Parrack, Dave (20 May 2012). "Electric sunglasses record life through your eyes". GizMag. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  8. ^ Gates, Sara (24 May 2012). "Computer-Enabled Eyewear: Vergence Labs Prototype Allows Wearers To Record Reality (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  9. ^ "It Looks Like Snapchat Paid $15 Million To Buy A Google Glass-Like Startup". Business Insider. 16 Dec 2014. Retrieved 16 Dec 2014.
  10. ^ "Snapchat Secretly Bought A Cooler, Cheaper Google Glass Competitor". Fast Company. 17 Dec 2014. Retrieved 17 Dec 2014.
  11. ^ Heath, Alex. "How Snapchat secretly bought a struggling startup, then bet the future on it". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  12. ^ "Disrupt NY 2012 – Hardware Alley Companies". TechCrunch. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  13. ^ Hui, Kiana (15 April 2013). "Alum turns honors thesis into Google Glass competitor". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  14. ^ Adelkhani, Nima (25 March 2013). "Erick Miller & Peter Brook, Vergence Labs: Creating Super Powers". Progress in Technology in the Middle East. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  15. ^ Karp, Andrew (June 2013). "Get Ready for Eyewear-able Technology". 20/20 Magazine. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Experience Your Life in High-Definition with Epiphany Eyewear | Androidheadlines.com". AndroidHeadlines.com |. 2014-01-18. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
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