CES: Your new cyberpunk goggles

Recon Instruments' $430 CAD "Transcend" goggles include a GPS receiver and a heads-up display. According to the website, it is "completely non-obtrusive for front and peripheral vision, making this real-time head mounted display the ultimate solution for use in fast-paced environments." On the HUD are speed and distance traveled, a virtual odometer, temperature and location. You can also hook it up to a computer to download GPS-tracked records of your visits to Stambul and Freeside. They're taking pre-orders at the official site, but my feeling is this is something that needs to be experienced first-hand before even thinking of plunking cash down. Product Page [Recon Instruments]

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slko

The GPS is produced by Recon, but the goggle however are Zeal http://www.zealoptics.com
Anonymous

we’re one step closer to the anime Denno Coil…which is fine by me, looks like tech awesomeness
http://animenfo.com/animetitle,3883,vicpjf,denno_coil.html
forgeweld

I’m going to start saving up for a pair of these right after I purchase the bicycle for my goldfish.
- Anonymous
  
  Is his name Klaus?
Anonymous

I’m waiting for a motorcycle helmet version.
- mappo
  
  I’m *not* waiting for a motorcycle version! These puppies are my next motorcycle goodie!
arborman

On a serious note, I can see a huge use for something like this on sailboats. GPS, speed, course, waypoints, course made good. Throw in a compass reading along the bottom, maybe a little zoomability. Give it a bluetooth connection to access some of the other data that is useful when sailing (windspeed and direction, current/tide tables, weather reports, sunrise/sunset, hull speed). Maybe a bluetooth connection to a VHF radio for good measure. And an EPIRB, what the hell.

Make a racing version that gives you times, allows you to enter dynamic waypoints, lets you do fast speed/direction course calculations. Maybe some detailed current and airflow data if it’s available.

Dang, maybe I should get in touch with these guys. ;) The bonus is that if they could make them weatherproof they could probably charge the yachting set like $5K a pair.
- Anonymous
  
  You have elaborated on the exact reasons why I want them for snowkiteboarding racing.
  
  To those who have wondered if they are hackable, yes, they are. But they are not OpenSource…
Anonymous

A friend and I are buying sets for military use. It seems ideal for our line of work, except we’re concerned it will only give the position in LAT/LONG instead of in grids. Does anyone know how compatable they are with different map systems?
TNGMug

Tottaly agree that this sets off the “too good to be true” alarm. If this technology is ready for ski googles, how come we haven’t seen it in less niche-oriented products first – like sunglasses?
- tad604
  
  I don’t ski, but I’d buy these as sunglasses. Add an hd cam and bt headphones… and damn. Hell ditch the actual gps unit in the glasses just give it blue tooth display/audio (along with recording) and let it talk to my phone. Make the tint adjustable via the bt connection and I just might wet myself.
- Daemon
  
  Because sunglasses don’t generally come with a load of extra space to put batteries, electronics, etc. in.
  
  The real question is, can the HUD be hacked to display other things…
skabob

I ski, and these look like they have awesome potential. A note of caution, though — it sucks to have a pair of goggles that doesn’t match your helmet (you end up with a cold forehead).

Potential Applications:

“Flat light” terrain augmentation
Directions to meeting places on a mountain
Weather warnings
Avalanche beacon flux lines (for rescuer)
First aid tips for first on scene (raises Good Sam concerns)
Advertising from Vail overlords

I’m going to look into them.
Anonymous

does anybody know if is it ok to have a gps receiver a few inches from your brain? im sure its nowhere near as bas as having a phone signal a few inch from your brain but its not worth the chance lol
- Anonymous
  
  >Anon #14
  >does anybody know if is it ok to have a gps receiver a few inches >from your brain?
  
  Yes. The GPS is just receiving, it’s not emitting anything.
turn_self_off

This is not so much a hud as a snowboard dashboard. This because the screen is in the lower right corner, rather then directly in the field of view (and the correct term for that would be hmd i think). Still, that can happen as i think at least samsung is working on transparent oled (compared to current mobile solutions that use the back camera of the phone to give a illusion of transparency).
arborman

I can actually see them being able to hide some of the stuff inside ski goggles more easily than basic sunglasses.

That said, just the thought that these are maybe the harbinger of my long-coveted cyberpunk sunglasses makes me happy. But I want more than just my location and how warm it is outside. How about object tracking and on-the-go mapping of my environment? Or any of a million other cool things I daydreamed about.
TomJoad2020AD

Probably because it’s not miniaturized enough for sunglasses. Can’t vouch for how effective/cool these actually are vs. the promise, but at the very least it’s fair to say that ski goggles would be a better fit in terms of hiding electronic components and battery packs somewhere behind that massive curved slate of reflective plastic.

Also, there’s more of a utility for this kind of thing for snowboarders/skiers. The GPS would be handy for tracking runs and even allowing others to find you in case of an emergency. The speedometer can tell you how fast you’re going — with sunglasses, you only ever care about that when you’re in the car and your dashboard will take care of that.
Wordguy

For a hands-on review, check out: http://www.gadgetreview.com/2010/11/recon-zeal-transcend-gps-goggles-review.html

The goggles really do work. The electronics are in the temple areas. The display is small, but crisp and bright.
Anonymous

Ultimate Chicago winter biking gear. I’d try em out and maybe buy a pair.

Needs to be open source, though.
pimlottc

I’d like to see a more realistic view of what it really looks like in your entire FOV, but it felt like it could be a distraction (especially in the trees).
Boomshadow

@TNGMug: Ski googles! I love it.

@Anon (#10): Googlefinger would have been an awesome name for a 1970s prog rock band.
Anonymous

What it really needs is a tv antenna and/or a HDMI interface…. “Are you paying attention?” “Of course I am” (Is actually watching TV…)
satablank

I wonder how hackable they are … and when I can start using them for cosplaying Motoko Kusanagi lol
LL Newman

It’s “head-up display”, not “headS-up display”. “Heads-up” is a warning about falling objects, not a type of display. The first HUD’s were used in aircraft to display information from the avionics in front of the windscreen so that it could be viewed with the pilots HEAD UP, not looking DOWN into the cockpit.
Anonymous

I’ve seen the real thing – my boss in Brisbane, Australia got his from Mountain Gear before Christmas and they work exactly as advertised.
drtwist

I can’t wait for some thugs SF to steal these off of Corey
- gastronaut
  
  How would they do that? Even if they could somehow get into his hot air balloon, who would dare mess with someone wearing a red cape and jet-fighter HUD goggles?
Anonymous

Love the neuromancer reference. ;)
penguinchris

I’m sure they’re cool, but I won’t be really impressed until we get “Virtual Light”-like capabilities, which really don’t seem unfeasible at all given the augmented reality apps available on iPhones and Android already. All you need is to basically include an Android phone plugged into this display, and you can almost do anything they did in Virtual Light.
Michael Smith

I would give them a go but I expect the GPS only gives you maps of Brazillian subway systems.
- Anonymous
  
  Har! I just read that book for the millionth time the week. :P
  
  …and, yes, I want some of those. 8D
Anonymous

I’ve seen video (amateur, not professional) of one of these units in the wild, and it’s everything they say it is.

If you want it on your sunglasses, you’d be stoked to know that Zeal is in discussion to license the tech to oakley and smith.

I’m just repeating information that is out there if you fire up the googlefinger…..I’m not blowing smoke…
- Anonymous
  
  Zeal makes sunglasses of their own and consider Oakley their rival…liscensing the tech to them is a completely untrue rumour. Check out Zeal’s sunglasses though! They’re amazing!
Anonymous

Freeside? Why Wait!