Vuzix builds adjacent business with support for security cameras

The company announces support for ONVIF security cameras in its Blade glasses.

ONVIF Security cameras can be used with Vuzix Blade glasses to enable security personnel be on the move and monitor several cameras at once. (Source: Vuzix)

Vuzix is a smart glasses company with unusual longevity in the perilous field of AR/VR glasses makers. In AR, vendors struggle to balance the market’s demand for low profile, lightweight glasses at equally comfortable price points. Vuzix’s Blade glasses are the company’s latest product. They look reasonably similar to regular glasses and they’re available directly from Vuzix for $799.

The Vuzix Blade glasses are the company’s entrant in the low profile smart glasses category. (Source: Vuzix)

The company has managed to hang around by resolutely putting its efforts into industrial applications, driving price down, making its products easily accessible, and by, apparently, being easy to work with. One of the company’s strongest segments is retail. The company has teamed with several companies to offer develop AR glasses for picking and packing. At CES, Israeli designer Ride-On Vision demonstrated AR ski goggles based on the Vuzix Blade. In addition to helping skiers navigate the slopes, the glasses can record time of runs and includes an audio player controllable through the glasses.

At CES 2020, the company took a little bit of a surprise turn and announced that Blade glasses will support ONVIF security cameras. ONVIF is open standard for IP-based surveillance cameras. Vuzix introduced this camera as a companion for the company’s Blade glasses.

Vuzix says security personnel can access multiple cameras on the wireless network and toggle between IP surveillance camera feeds. The company offers drivers and source code to enable companies to develop their own applications.

“The introduction of the ONVIF security application for the Vuzix Blade provides a new use case for the Blade in enterprise and opens up new segments of the market related to security, especially within big box retail stores, public safety, smart cities and others,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer.

To read more about the new Vuzix security camera, see the company’s press release here. Also, the company’s app store features the many building blocks Vuzix makes available to customers and partners.