AR eyewear solution for industry operations

Microoled, a supplier of OLED micro-displays and the developer of ActiveLook, a proprietary ultra-low power smart eyewear technology, will unveil its new Enterprise Eyewear on the 8^th and 9^th November at SIDO Paris 2022. Enterprise is the first ActiveLook smart glasses model developed specifically for use in the industrial sector, designed to enable seamless deployment of a 'light AR' display to impart mission-critical information, directly in the field of vision, in a completely hands-free context.

Augmented reality glasses offer opportunities as businesses continue the move toward Industry 4.0 by facilitating greater productivity, minimizing losses, increasing safety, providing greater customer satisfaction, enabling clearer communication, reducing environmental impact, and more.

With more than 15 years of experience developing near-eye display devices for consumer and professional uses, Microoled has understood, undertaken, and overcome the challenges inherent in a smart glasses solution being widely adopted in the marketplace. Entering the AR industrial glasses market, with its new Enterprise model Microoled answered to three main challenges which are equally important for the end user in this market: weight, autonomy and ergonomy. As each wearable manufacturer, Microoled had to solve the problem of convenient design and technical excellence combination. It’s no secret that the existing AR industrial glasses market is very competitive, but the lightest AR industrial glasses weigh at least 80g while the scientifically recognised ergonomic limit of use is 40g. ActiveLook Enterprise offers eyewear at only 36g, just a few grams over what a pair of sunglasses might weigh. ActiveLook’s 12h or more battery life, depending on configuration, allows for an unprecedented level of autonomy and uninterrupted workflow. The fully-self-contained tech package and adjustable fit of the temples and nose bridge enable the glasses to stay balanced and safely in place, while features like the pogo connector make the eyewear easy to charge in any setting.

The potential vertical markets served by ActiveLook Enterprise include manufacturing, research & development, healthcare, localisation and navigation, construction, security, logistics, maintenance, retail, and more.

The minimal form factor ensures privacy for the user, with the tech and data being imperceptible to outside observers, and with no extraneous attributes like video or audio to weigh the user down or distract, the focus stays on mission-critical data, delivered in real time, directly into the field of view of operators without obstruction. The purpose of Microoled is to improve the safety of the workforce by eliminating the need to interrupt their work to glance down at a smartphone, smartwatch or laptop: it means that, using ActiveLook Entreprise glasses, employees can see the work instructions or receive messages from the team in action, without interruptions. The eyewear’s optical system has been designed to enable indoor use with a clear lens: specific coatings and wavelength-aware engineering enables high contrast and ease of readability in all professional environments. 

Each unit is powered by the ActiveLook NEXT platform, initially developed as a training application for elite athletes. Because ActiveLook acts as a bridge technology, equipping a large fleet is easier and more cost-effective than ever.

For software developments and integration, Enterprise relies on ActiveLook’s free and open API, and its Bluetooth Low Energy interface makes it easy to connect to any existing industrial wearable computing solution.

A software development kit is available to speed up custom integrations, and a cohort of development partners are ready to support ActiveLook professional developments.

“The ActiveLook solution is so compelling in filling an unmet need that we have customers using our sports sunglasses technology for their industrial operation. We therefore decided to accelerate our market entry in the industrial segment by providing an Enterprise version of our successful NEXT platform,” said Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO for Microoled.

The Enterprise eyewear will be available for €375 from the ActiveLook website and will start shipping in November 2022.