Pivothead SMART Looks like the Offspring of Google Glass and GoPro Hero3 Camera (Crowdfunding)

Pivothead SMART is a pair of smart glasses designed for action. It’s basically pacts GoPro Hero camera functionality into glasses, adding some of the smart features of Google Glass without the head-up display (HUD). As controlling the weight is quite important for comfort, the glasses are also modular, so you can just add features such as Wi-Fi or GPS via “SMART Mods” when you need it, and keep the glasses as light as possible during the rest of the time.

Instead of just listing the specifications of Pivothead SMART, I’ll show the comparison table with Google Glass and GoPro Hero3 Black provided on their Indiegogo page.

It does not quite have the camera specs of the GoPro Hero3, but recording options are still decent, and the other extra features, and the form factor makes it quite interesting. 4GB of RAM seems a ridiculous amount of memory for this type of system, and is probably a mistake and should read like 4Gb (512MB).

There will be 3 SMART mods at launch which attach to the tip of the glasses’ temples:

• Fuel Mod –  1000 mAh Battery pack with LED Charge Indicator, and micro USB Charging Port. It can also be used to charge your phone.
• Live Mod – 2.4GHz WiFi and micro SD storage for Live streaming Full HD videos. It also includes indicator LEDs.
• Air Mod
  
  • Dual core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.3 Ghz (Mediatek MT6572?) running Android OS
  • Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi
  • Sensors – GPS, NFC, accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyro.
  • Storage – micro SD card slot.
  • Audio – Built-in speakers, stereo audio in/out jack
  • Misc – Indicator LEDs for power level and Wi-Fi strength, programmable via SDK

One of the reasons I never wrote about Google Glass is because of the head-up display which could be too invasive. The weight of glasses, and others’ privacy invasion were also a concern to me, which means the product may never be successful. I’ll probably be proven wrong. Anyway, even though Pivorhead SMART does not address the later, it replaces the HUD with an “LED Light Guide” composed of ten small LEDs at the top of the glasses to indicate eyewear status (battery, memory, and operation), as well as recording status. The behavior of the LEDs will be customizable with the SDK.

There are two type of frames which are both prescription friendly:

• Colfax – Photochromic lenses that are clear in the office or at night, and tinted in bright sunlight, half-jacket lens frame, and adjustable nose pads.
• Teller – Polarized lenses, full jacket frame, and rubberized nose pads

The company will also provide desktop & mobile apps for respectively Windows/Linux PCs & Mac, as well as Android, Windows Mobile, and iOS. The apps will allow you to wirelessly configure your Pivothead SMART Eyewear, share live stream, share media to social networks (Facebook, Twitter, …), control the glasses remotely, and backup your media.

The Pivothead SDK will let developers create their own “SMART” apps. The SDK is currently being used to integrate the glasses with Omate TrueSmart smartwatch, and the SDK will help you design apps using gesture recognition, geolocation, site & object recognition, and QR & barcode recognition. You’ll eventually be able to find more details on SMART Developers’ page.

Pledges for the glasses start at $69 (NFC only), but the most popular pledge is for the full kit with the glasses and the 3 SMART mods selling for $409, plus $15 for international shipping. The project has about 2 more days to go, and has just been fully funded, partially thanks to a late funder who committed to purchase 60 pairs. Delivery is expected in April 2014.

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