The world of Tron may not be too far off as stocks in augmented-reality (AR) wearables firm Vuzix (NASDAQ:VUZI) dart upwards. Prices rose 12.42% today as of 4:00 PM EST, bringing the price per share to $8.60 USD and the market cap to nearly $209m.
Wearable tech is a creeping market, starting off years ago with the likes of digital watches and Fitbits, which are still going strong today. But the same cannot be said for the bulkier and more conspicuous world of augmented-reality headsets; eyewear which overlays information on top of what you see in real life. Although virtual-reality headsets have soared in popularity with the introduction of HTC’s (TPE: 2498) VIVE and Oculus’ (CVE:OVT) Rift headset, it’s a different story if you have to wear the tech in public as opposed to your living-room couch. Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) ‘Glass’ tech, which intended to bring augmented reality to the masses, flopped amid privacy and safety concerns, aside from the fact that aesthetically speaking, no-one would be seen dead wearing it.
So it’s impressive that Vuzix has attracted investors when they announced on January 4th that they will be unveiling its next-gen augmented-reality products, including a set of glasses, at this year’s CES presentation in Las Vegas. The show takes place on Jan 9th and is a stage for tech innovations to make their global debut.
Vuzix’s Blade smart glasses immediately look sleeker than Google’s Glass headset, with smooth black coloration all around and a subtle tint to the lenses. Another difference is that Vuzix is targeting a fairly niche audience; a market of professionals, golfers and business customers, before bringing the price down from the currently advertised $1000 price tag. In addition, the Blade will also be the first AR glasses to be powered by Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) increasingly ubiquitous Alexa AI. It was this announcement that caused Vuzix’s shares to rise by around 18% last Friday.
Whether or not Vuzix will be subject to the same criticism suffered by Google remains to be seen. But for now, as the CES presentation looms and share prices continue to spike sharply, they can sit back and enjoy the anticipation.
Featured Image: twitter
