Hundreds of thousands of iPads will be used with smart AR security glasses
In what is believed to be the biggest single order of smart glasses to date, security firm Sword is buying an initial 10,000 Vuzix Blade AR headgear sets -- and pairing each to Apple's iPad.
A pair of Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses
Security firm Sword is to begin a mass rollout of Vuzix smart glasses to be used in conjunction with iPads for a threat detection system intended for airports, sports arenas and federal buildings. Apple has not announced the deal and no details of the iPads are yet known, but Sword has confirmed it is spending an initial $7.1 million on the smart glasses.
Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses are an AR headset in the style of basic spectacles, and information can be displayed on them from a smartphone or other device. The glasses ordered for Sword are reported the same as the ones that can be bought by consumers and feature Amazon Alexa support.
Sword is a security system intended to be used in places such as airports where the wearer can have a hands-free view of data about items they're required to search. In Sword's case, the Vuzix glasses are to be paired to iPads which are running proprietary apps and also utilizing proprietary hardware.
Currently, Sword supplies customers with 9.7-inch iPad in a case that has extra electronics including a camera system which, through an undisclosed method, is reportedly able to detect concealed weapons.
When a person is in view of the case's camera, a 3D modelled image of that person is displayed with any weapons highlighted on the connected iPad.
Vuzix Blade smart glasses do have a camera and the company has said other firms are using face recognition with it. However, it's not clear whether the glasses contribute to feeding video to the iPad for analysis, or are solely to unobtrusively show alerts to security personnel.
Sword's $7.1 million order will buy 10,000 of the Vuzix Blade, and sources familiar with the two companies have said they expect that to increase to hundreds of thousands of orders, each with an iPad, in the near future.
"Sword is the world's first, mobile, proactive, multiple threat detection and identification device," says the official site. "Our multi-tier technologies, including a 6-hour lithium battery, are embedded in a military-grade case and secured to an Apple iPad 9.7."
Vuzix claims that adding the glasses to Sword's offering means that the see-through display will "allow security personnel to quickly and inconspicuously receive real-time critical threat notifications."
"The combination of technology offerings between Vuzix and Sword has all the makings of a disruptive and game changing product offering for public safety and the security industry," said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officerin a statement.
"Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses are the ideal wearable solution to pair with our Sword Enterprise solution," said Sword Enterprise founder and CEO, Barry Oberholzer. "The see-through smart glasses allow our customers to stay engaged with their environment, while also simultaneously receiving critical alerts related to safety threats."
Sword and Vuzix glasses are intended to replace or at least reduce the need for the more familiar archway scanner used by the TSA in airports.
A pair of Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses
Security firm Sword is to begin a mass rollout of Vuzix smart glasses to be used in conjunction with iPads for a threat detection system intended for airports, sports arenas and federal buildings. Apple has not announced the deal and no details of the iPads are yet known, but Sword has confirmed it is spending an initial $7.1 million on the smart glasses.
Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses are an AR headset in the style of basic spectacles, and information can be displayed on them from a smartphone or other device. The glasses ordered for Sword are reported the same as the ones that can be bought by consumers and feature Amazon Alexa support.
Sword is a security system intended to be used in places such as airports where the wearer can have a hands-free view of data about items they're required to search. In Sword's case, the Vuzix glasses are to be paired to iPads which are running proprietary apps and also utilizing proprietary hardware.
Currently, Sword supplies customers with 9.7-inch iPad in a case that has extra electronics including a camera system which, through an undisclosed method, is reportedly able to detect concealed weapons.
When a person is in view of the case's camera, a 3D modelled image of that person is displayed with any weapons highlighted on the connected iPad.
Vuzix Blade smart glasses do have a camera and the company has said other firms are using face recognition with it. However, it's not clear whether the glasses contribute to feeding video to the iPad for analysis, or are solely to unobtrusively show alerts to security personnel.
Sword's $7.1 million order will buy 10,000 of the Vuzix Blade, and sources familiar with the two companies have said they expect that to increase to hundreds of thousands of orders, each with an iPad, in the near future.
"Sword is the world's first, mobile, proactive, multiple threat detection and identification device," says the official site. "Our multi-tier technologies, including a 6-hour lithium battery, are embedded in a military-grade case and secured to an Apple iPad 9.7."
Vuzix claims that adding the glasses to Sword's offering means that the see-through display will "allow security personnel to quickly and inconspicuously receive real-time critical threat notifications."
"The combination of technology offerings between Vuzix and Sword has all the makings of a disruptive and game changing product offering for public safety and the security industry," said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officerin a statement.
"Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses are the ideal wearable solution to pair with our Sword Enterprise solution," said Sword Enterprise founder and CEO, Barry Oberholzer. "The see-through smart glasses allow our customers to stay engaged with their environment, while also simultaneously receiving critical alerts related to safety threats."
Sword and Vuzix glasses are intended to replace or at least reduce the need for the more familiar archway scanner used by the TSA in airports.
Comments
May be the most needlessly bizarre thing I'll hear today.
And then I heard the line about drones…
SpamSandwich: the site confirms the cases include a "Proprietary mmWave Hardware Stack" and a 4,500mAh battery
tl;dr Everything about this screams scam.
Ok, this claims to do a lot, in what appears to be a very small package. I'd want that thing to be able to detect a badge as well as a gun. Might not go well for a security guard to unknowingly jack up the wrong person.
The video does lay on the scare a little thick but it's not wholly out in left field. There are a lot of people who are illegally carrying firearms and knives. Some are truly bad guys and some clueless people who think they're protecting themselves. Were this as good as the video claims, I'd expect some good and no small measure of abuse as a result. A sword is usually a double edged weapon that cuts both ways.
I didn't say it sounded like something Apple would do.
Nice try though....
The analogy might be the face shield on the helmet of F35 which is a primary part of what (supposedly) sets the plane apart.
In this case, the glasses can be both input and output devices: relaying real time data (sight and sound) to a central site while projecting real time information back to that same wearer of the glasses -- say to pin point a potential threat or identify good guys versus bad guys in a crowd.
While this sounds like science fiction, it was not very long ago that things an Apple Watch does everyday was science fiction. Even StarTrek relied on flip-phones.
The glasses are real. Heck, if you have a spare $800 you can have them in your home in a couple of days. Sword's tech on the otherhand...
Hey everyone I works I had the privilege to see it working and in an uncontrolled environment.., it’s a phenomenal piece of Kit, the reason you don’t see a list of clients is you need and end user license, as it now a restricted item, if you dig a little bit deeper you uncover who the main players are and where this is going., Anyone know What Barry’s Warrant for arrest is For????