Vufine+ is a wearable display (not a computer) developed by a small, creative company dedicated to building simple and accessible wearable technology. The gadget’s primary focus is on the display itself, so it offers a picture quality crisp enough to read text and watch videos. Vufine+ lets you experience real-life picture-in-picture.
For those of you more familiar with Google Glass, let’s take a minute to compare the two devices. Vufine+ is a wearable display, while Google Glass is a wearable computer. Vufine+ connects to your eyeglasses (if you don’t wear glasses, there is a pair in the box for you) and provides a wearable display for existing devices, while Google Glass is a standalone device that offers some applications for access on the actual device. Vufine+ lacks an operating system and doesn’t have a camera, while Google Glass is Android-powered and has a built-in camera.
What’s in the box? An HDMI cable with a micro HDMI connector and a full-size HDMI connector that plugs into anything you’d like to interface with. You can also see the adapter I’m using. Using the USB cable, I charged the Vufine+ by plugging it into my computer. In less than an hour, the red charging light disappeared and I was ready to discover what a wearable display had to offer.
I don’t commute via public transportation so I wasn’t able to test this out, but this made me think about my absolute favorite television show: NCIS.
I started tinkering with Vufine+. I hooked it up to my iPhone and initially had a difficult time viewing the screen without closing my left eye. I even wrote the company a follow-up e-mail asking if they had any tips for me because I was having such difficulty. Then I realized that the tiny display portion that sits in front of the eyeglass lens can be pulled in and out, so a user could adjust it to the ideal position.
"We've found closing one eye for a time can help the brain adjust; you can also try viewing the screen against a large blank surface. If neither of those help your viewing experience, it may simply take more time or may not be possible. Vufine+ is able to be used by most people but, as with most VR and AR tech, some users are unable to utilize the technology for a host of reasons. Because Vufine+ is such an experiential tech, we always find it best for people to try it themselves to see exactly how they adjust to the interface."
Watching NCIS with my Vufine.
As for the fact that you need to be connected via wires, the company admits that there is currently no easy way to handle wireless in line with its product vision.
“The physical size of the necessary components would alter our form factor, severely affect our battery life and bring a whole host of connectivity issues across all devices detracting from our plug and play ethos. We would need to add a pack for an increased battery and PCB that would still be wired to Vufine+ and would increase the cost and realistically decrease the wider connectivity,” according to the Vufine+ spokesperson.
That’s a compromise the company is not willing to make at this time.
Nicolette Emmino is a technology writer and word lover with a background in broadcast journalism and previous experience in the engineering space. She aims to find the very latest technological developments and keep the masses informed on recent innovative breakthroughs and consumer electronics, as well as create novel content and video geared toward Millennials and the budding popularity of “maker culture” and do-it-yourself philosophies and projects.
