Smartglasses aren’t just for taking photos or talking to AI, and Ray-Ban isn’t the only name in town, as eBike maker N+ has proved with the launch of its officially licensed Volkswagen eBike, which is available with an optional pair of smartglasses.
They’re not just for looking cool, and are designed to help improve safety for riders, and join a selection of other smart devices for the VW eBike.
What do the smartglasses do?
Before we get to the smartglasses, it’s important to understand the VW eBike’s functionality, as they directly link to it.
Smart View is a radar-activated rear-view camera system designed for the VW eBike, and as the name suggests, it gives riders a view behind them while riding, complete with blind spot monitoring, all enabled by an HD rear-facing camera.
It also shows general data including speed, distance ridden, a tripometer, battery charge level, and remaining charge.
As standard, Smart View uses a handlebar mounted screen, but if you buy the smartglasses, the entire system appears on a display in the lenses, just like a heads-up display in a car.
The VW smartglasses weigh 47 grams, have an eight-hour battery life, work with Android and iOS, connect to Google Maps, and apparently use a Sony MicroOLED display with a 640 x 640 pixel resolution.
However, unlike the Even Realities Even G2, the single MicroOLED display is set in the top right corner of a single lens.
The display shows blind spot alerts and navigation prompts, along with all the other general data, and apparently uses eye-tracking to activate too. What’s more, the glasses sync with Wear OS and Apple’s Watch OS, so they should show exercise data too.
They can be used in other scenarios, so you’re not limited to using the functionality only with the VW eBike, although exactly how any of this works isn’t clear.
Other smart gear, and the eBike itself
The VW eBike is also available with a Smart Lights and a Smart Helmet, ready to kit riders out completely.
The Smart Lights are integrated into the Sport eBike’s top tube, and use LEDs to show daytime running lights, plus a red brake light and orange turn signals too.
Wear the Smart Helmet, and the integrated LED lights also show braking and turn indicators to inform other road users of your actions.
N+ produces two types of Volkswagen eBikes, a Sport and a Crossover model. Both use a Yamaha power unit, have 250W of power, a top assisted speed of 15mph, and a maximum range of about 100 miles on a charge.
All this tech and ability does not come cheap. The VW Sport eBike costs $4,000 and the crossover (which swaps the top tube for a carrier over the rear wheel) is $4,350.
If you want the smart glasses, they cost an extra $500, while the smart helmet is $400. At the time of writing, the Smart View system is included for free, but normally costs $700.
It means a fully kitted out, smart VW eBike could set you back as much as $5,250.
The Volkswagen eBike range from N+ is available to pre-order now, and expected to be released between October and December this year.
