A TV in your sunglasses
Video eyewear goes undercover.
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| Vuzix Wrap 920AV |
(Fortune Small Business -- For decades, if you wanted to wear a portable entertainment system on your head, you had to be willing to pass for an extra from Star Trek. Those days are over. Vuzix, a Rochester, N.Y. developer of video eyewear, has a new device scheduled for release this summer: the unobtrusive Wrap 920AV, which weighs just under three ounces and looks like wraparound shades.
The unit uses a combination of mirrors, innovative see-through video displays, digital controls and good old-fashioned tinted glasses to simulate the feeling of watching a 60-inch monitor from nine feet away. Sound comes via earbuds attached to the plastic frames.
The Wrap 920AV is designed to work with most media players that offer video output, including the iPhone. For entrepreneurs who target tech-savvy audiences on the road, the glasses make a useful tool for delivering impromptu sales presentations.
Vuzix president Paul J. Travers and his team deserve credit for the product's overall comfort and low geek factor. But it's a stretch for Vuzix to claim that its viewing experience is on par with that of a real monitor. Because the glasses are translucent, wearers see the screen and the outside world at the same time; ambient light can greatly degrade the image quality.
Though the glasses may feel a bit too futuristic for some small business owners, it's hard to imagine a more attention-grabbing tool for sharing a sales message on the road. And in these distracted times, winning attention is half the battle. 
