New Google Glass Rival, The Recon Jet To Be Released This September

Google Glass is the first of its kind. While head mounted displays have existed a long time before Google decided to make Glass, its uniqueness comes from the fact that it actually is basically a glass frame that projects directly to your eye, and which can be interacted with via natural language. Since Google unveiled the Google Glass project, many companies have started to announce similar projects. One such project is Recon Jet, which was announced last year and is aimed mainly at sports and other outdoor activities.

As mentioned above, the Recon Jet was unveiled last year. The interesting part is that it was unveiled just a day before the 2013 edition of the Google I/O conference. That was a bold move, and we have no doubt that the reason behind it was marketing related. Developed by Recon Instruments, the Recon Jet is a pair of smartglasses that are made for athletes and people that practice outdoor sports (such as mountain hiking, cycling and even extreme sports) as they augment these activities with real time information.

After being unveiled in 2013, a day before the 2013 edition of the Google I/O conference, the Recon Jet went silent, until this week, when Recon Instruments offered more information about it. The Recon Jet pair of smartglasses, is actually not the first head mounted display from Recon Instruments. Before Recon Jet, the company developed skiing goggles with a heads up display (HUD). Recon Instruments is a Canadian technology company known mainly because it was among the first to release HUD devices to the general public.

Back to the Recon jet, it is a bit different than Google Glass. Regarding its display, instead of projecting the monitor through a prism, Recon Jet features a display located at the front, below the user’s right eye. It seems that Recon Instrument’s Research and Development divison found that just below the user’s right eye is the perfect place for the display of such a device, as it is less obtrusive when placed there. Thanks to this aspect, the user can better see the displayed information. Apparently, information is more visible, when compared to the transparent display of Google Glass and makes the Recon Jet not only more ergonomic but also a better heads-up display than Google Glass.

Another interesting aspect is that the Recon Jet is IP65 certified. IP65 is an Ingress Protection rating and it means that the Recon Jet is totally protected against dust ingress and also protected against low pressure water jets from any direction. However, it cannot be submerged in water, so we advise against taking a swim with it on. The Recon Jet will also be released with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and all the other sensors. It will also be released with a rubberized frame, and Recon Jet’s lenses (which are 2 mm each) can be changed and will be available in yellow, clear and gray.

Recon Instruments will release the Recon Jet in about two months, on September 25th 2014. So if you are a very active person that practices a lot of outdoors activities, and you want the Recon Jet HUD, then you better start saving for it as it comes with a price tag of six hundred dollars. However, that’s still more than hal the price of the Explorer version of Google Glass which features a price tag of $1,500. We admit that we find the concept of a pair of smartglasses for athletes and outdoor activities very interesting. What do you think about Google Glass’ upcoming rival, econ Jet? Leave a comment in the dedicated section below.