High-Tech Eyewear Meets High-Fashion

Nov, 13, 2018. Ontario. The full paper by Chris Glover

The North Inc. startup in Ontario, Canada, has designed eyeglasses that interact with Amazon's Alexa digital assistant and connect to smartphones via Bluetooth to check various apps without obscuring the wearer's vision.

The technology is "hidden by design" within a fashionable form factor. Said North's Adam Ketcheson, "Whereas most of the companies that have come before us have tried to shrink all the information that's on your cellphone and essentially stick it in front of your eyes, we've really focused on trying to only give you the information that allows you to stay connected." *

The Focals eyewear utilize a hidden holographic display that projects images so they appear about an arm's length in front of the wearer's eyes. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology's Isabel Pedersen said technology consumers are “a lot more sophisticated when it comes to the idea of wearable technology” than when digital eyewear was first introduced, “just from what they're doing in their everyday life."