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.

Pivothead-SMART

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.

SYSTEM Pivothead SMART Google Glass GoPro Hero3 Black
Processor 2x ARM Cortex A7 (w/ Mod)
(Probably Mediatek MT6572)
TI OMAP4460
ARM 2x Cortex A9 @ 1GHz
Ambarella A770
ARM11 @ 528 MHz
RAM 4GB??? 1GB 512MB RAM
Native Memory 16GB (15.5 usable) 16GB (12 usable) none
Modular Design SMART Mods no no
Expandable Memory Up to 32GB with Micro SD (with Mods) no Up to 64GB with Micro SD card.
HUD
(Heads Up Display)
LED Lightguide Prism HUD none. (viewfinder)
CONNECTIVITY Pivothead SMART
Google Glass GoPro Hero3 Black
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 LE Bluetooth 4.0 LE no
Wifi Yes (w/ Mods) Yes Yes
NFC Yes (w/ Mods) no no
USB Micro USB / OTG Micro USB Mini USB
Live Stream Pivothead LIVE / RTSP | PAL | NTSC / 1080p (w/ Live Mod) Only via Google Hangouts / Motion JPG / 720p. Video preview only / HLS
Audio Out
In / Out 3.5mm stereo jack (w/ Air Mod) USB Mono Earbud / Bone Conductor No
Voice Input Mono 44.1 kHz mic (Eyewear)
In / Out 3.5mm stereo jack (Air Mod)
Microphone / Bone Conductor mono 48 kHz mic, 3.5 mm mic input
GPS
Yes (w/ Air Mod) No No
VIDEO & IMAGING Pivothead SMART
Google Glass GoPro Hero3 Black
Image Sensor Sony 8MP CMOS
(3264 x 2448 pixels)
5MP
(2048 x 1510)
12MP
(4000 x 3000 pixels)
Max Video Resolution 1080p @ 30fps 720p @ 30fps 1080p @ 60fps, 4K@12 fps
Focus Modes auto / macro / fixed fixed fixed
Image Capture Mode Still / Burst / Timelapse Still Still / Burst /
Timelapse / Looping
BATTERY & CHARGING Pivothead SMART
Google Glass GoPro Hero3 Black
Replaceable Battery? Fuel Mod no yes
Continuous Full HD Video Recording 180 mins
w/ single Fuel Mod
No Full HD
(~15 mins 720p)
120 Mins
Charging Method micro USB cable micro USB cable mini USB cable
OTHER AWESOMENESS Pivothead SMART
Google Glass GoPro Hero3 Black
Is it waterproof? Water-Resistant. nope. If inside a properly sealed case – yep.
Does it have an SDK? yep. yep. nope.
Will I look kinda silly wearing this on my face? nope. you’ll look amazing. yep. a little. definitely.

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
    • MiscIndicator LEDs for power level and Wi-Fi strength, programmable via SDK

Pivothead_SMART_man_woman
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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4 Replies to “Pivothead SMART Looks like the Offspring of Google Glass and GoPro Hero3 Camera (Crowdfunding)”

  1. “nope. you’ll look amazing.” and then the pictures 😉

    Also somewhat comparable to Glassup: http://www.glassup.net/
    which has a HUD, making it way more useful in my book (to the extent early adopter toys are ever useful…)

  2. @rasz_pl
    I had to look up for “Mordeth13”. So in case other people don’t know who “Mordeth13” is either: He is a popular video blogger, who call himself “Motorbiking demon living in Taiwan”. He has used the Pivothead SMART for some of his recent videos.

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