Google Glasses, for all their hype, were a tech flop. But those failures have turned into inspiration for Dylan Rose, founder of Glimpse Wearables and the designer behind Kai--a device that turns normal glasses into smart glasses.
"This product was designed with Google Glass’ failures kept heavily in mind," he said.
Kai is a voice-activated smart assistant, in the form of a small, oval-shaped device that clips on the back of a pair of glasses, tucked behind the users' ear. Using voice activation, a tap on the device and the command "Ok Hound" (which can later be customized, but the device is currently powered by voice-enabled AI platform Houndify) users can ask the device to play music, read text messages, schedule calendar reminders, send emails, call an Uber and provide navigation assistance, among other features. The device has a special bone conduction speaker that directs sound into the wearer's ear to keep communication private, and is outfitted with a silicone skin for comfort.
Rose is currently aiming to raise $55,650 on Kickstarter to manufacture the first round of Kai devices and get them into the hands of early adopters. Orders are expected to be shipped in August, just before Rose, who's a senior at Glenbrook North High School, heads off to college.
Rose's device won't cover all the same ground as Google Glass or even Snapchat Spectacles--there's no augmented reality feature or camera on the device. Instead, he said he wanted to make a device that combats compulsive smartphone habits.
"This is really useful to help with our constant attachment to smartphones and screens," he said. "There’s a lot of distraction involved and impulsive phone checking involved, so that’s something I really wanted to tackle with this project: freeing ourselves from the screen and being able to explore our human connection with the world around us."
He's got a point--recent surveys found US smartphone users check their phones 46 times per day on average (that number jumps up to 74 checks per day for those between the ages of 18 and 24).
While the Google Glass project, in part, set out with this same ethos, Rose said he believes it failed because the device wasn't stylish, disrupted communication, and was prohibitively expensive. He designed Kai to avoid these pitfalls: The device tucks neatly behind the ear (it weighs 3.4 oz, runs 4 cm wide by 2 cm tall and is 1.5 cm thick) and can clip onto a normal pair of glasses; the speaker is designed so that any audio from the device is directed to the wearer's ear; and the device will cost $200 (and just $130 with the super early bird pricing on his Kickstarter). And while Snapchat recently unveiled their buzzworthy Spectacles, that device's capability is focused on video capture.
He's first targeting early adopters to try the device and offer feedback on what features are most helpful. Hopefully they'll also start normalizing voice interfaces, he said. Rose wore his prototype around for the week, and said most people didn't notice (or at least comment) on the device, unless they were behind him and noticed it behind his ear. Reminders and navigation were the most helpful features, he added.
While Rose doesn't have an engineering background, he spent his summers working at a computer repair shop and participates in his school's chapter of DECA, a high school entrepreneurship program, two experiences that helped him create a business plan and a product he said. Rose created 15 iterations of the device since last April using a 3D printer at his local library, consulting YouTube tutorials when he got stuck. He's also developing the accompanying app.
Rose said he hasn't settled on his manufacturing plan yet, but he's aware of the need to get his product to backers on time, especially as he looks to grow the company while he's in college.
"It’s a close deadline and I have to kick it into high gear once the Kickstarter ends," he said.
