I have been using Even Realities G1 glasses for four months, and while many people have commented on my new frames, only two friends asked me if my glasses were “smart.” For someone who wore Google Glass in public and lived to tell the tale, this technological anonymity is certainly high praise. They look like glasses you might want to wear and don’t draw unnecessary attention to your (okay, my) face.
But just as Clark Kent accessed his superpowers after removing his glasses, conversely, this mild-mannered reporter benefits from real-time language translation, access to AI, turn-by-turn navigation and a personal assistant, all while maintaining his glasses on. .
Most smart glasses, like the Ray-Ban Meta, rely on Bluetooth audio, but the G1 features a small but brilliantly effective front-facing display called Holistic Adaptive Optical System, or HAOS. Look closely at the lenses and you will see a faint rectangle in each eye. This is where a micro-LED optical engine projector displays crisp, green digital text (640 x 200 pixels). Look up (choose the angle via the app) and a seemingly two-foot-wide splash page of text appears to float about five feet in front of you. Considering all this, it’s surprisingly smart given how light and, well, normal the frames feel.
The digital surface lens is actually two lenses joined together, but it fails to be thicker or heavier than a standard design. The prescription lenses cost an additional $129, and aside from occasional viewing of the projector screen in bright sun, they work as well as any glasses I’ve ever owned.
Located at the end of each arm you will find two gummy nodules. These contain the battery, buttons and antennas that exchange data in real time with your phone via Bluetooth. They are slightly heavier than standard glasses, but since the weight is kept off your nose, they feel good. The frames are made from solid magnesium and have a matte finish, with the temples coated in silicone for added grip. Add screwless hinges and a classic oval shape and you have a stylish proposition before you even load them up.
Photography: Christopher Haslam
The charging case is equally well designed and has enough power to recharge the glasses 2.5 times. The glasses’ 60 mAh battery has enough power for 1.5 days.
They are nice glasses, but what do they really do?
Virtual Assistance
The idea of the G1 is not to replace your smartphone but to offer a minimalist interface that gives you help and information when you need it and then disappears when you don’t.
After installing the app and syncing your glasses, when you look up you’ll see a screen with the date, time, battery level, and upcoming calendar dates (assuming you’ve granted permissions). You can also receive messages and alerts from social and messaging apps. However, you can’t reply to any messages, which seems strange and embarrassing given the built-in microphones and transcription software used.
The right side of the main screen is for QuickNotes. If you pinch the little box on the right arm, a note will appear that says “Quick Note Recording.” When you speak, your words will be saved and displayed on the screen the next time you search. If you mention a date, time or place, the AI assistant will add it to your diary. It’s great if you’re a fan of voice memos. I’m not, but as someone who meets new people all the time but is still terrible at remembering names, I loved being able to have names, and even job titles, on display, for my eyes only.
Translation
Open the Translate box in the Even Realities app, choose from one of 13 languages (including Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean), decide which language you want to translate things into (in this case, English), and hit Enter. If someone speaks to you in that language, the G1 glasses will listen, translate and write the words on your HUD.
Annoyingly, it’s not a Babelfish, though. With individual conversations it worked well and I enjoyed understanding my wife’s rusty Spanish. Likewise, I was successful in re-watching Squid Game without subtitles. But without someone to wear their own pair and translate my English, it’s one-way traffic.