10 Innovative Wearable Technologies For Recreation

Here are 10 wearable devices that caught CRN’s attention for recreational use at CES 2022.

Augmented reality smart glasses, a haptic vest for feeling virtual gunshots and hugs and motion-trackers to make virtual avatars’ legs move joined the usual spate of earbuds, headphones, smartwatches and virtual reality devices on the floors of CES 2022.

These devices from Vuzix, Owo and Shiftall joined bigger name brands such as Samsung, Garmin and Raycon among the standouts in wearables at CES 2022, held live in Las Vegas and virtually this year to accommodate attendees turned off by the ongoing spread of COVID-19.

Major tech companies to drop out of the conference this year due to COVID-19 include Amazon, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

Here are 10 wearable devices that caught CRN’s attention for recreational use at CES 2022.

Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 AR Smart Viewer Reference Design

Qualcomm received a CES 2022 “virtual and augmented reality” honoree designation for its Snapdragon XR1 AR Smart Viewer reference design.

The Smart Viewer from San Diego-based Qualcomm aims to reduce production time for working products. This design is for Snapdragon mobile platform-powered devices, providing the ability to tether to a compatible smartphone, Windows PC or processing puck.

Some processing happens on the reference design to help distribute computing workloads between the viewer and the host device.

Fairy Devices Linklet

Japanese company Fairy Devices showcased its Linklet wearable wide angle camera with the ability to livestream over Zoom and Teams at CES 2022.

The Linklet is embedded with LTE and has five multi-microphones, according to the company. The device is meant for virtual classes and meetings. The Linklet’s intelligent microphone was created by NTT TechnoCross with technology from NTT Laboratories.

The device promises hours of stable 4K video. Global systems integrator Accenture is among Fairy Devices’ partners, according to the company.

Vuzix Shield

Vuzix, a publicly traded supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technologies, brought its Shield brand of AR smart glasses to CES 2022.

Previously known as the Vuzix Next Generation Smart Glasses, the Shield is lightweight and prescription-ready, according to the Rochester, N.Y.-based company. The glasses have an eight-core processor and can scan codes, stream video from the field and run an ultra light-emitting diode (uLED) stereo display.

The glasses use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 platform and Vuzix’s proprietary waveguide optics for a see-through heads-up display. The company has a partner network, with Converge IoT as a distributor in North America, according to Vuzix. It also has a network of independent software vendors including Bluejeans and Facepro.

Owo Haptic Vest

This haptic vest from Spanish company Owo promises users more than 30 different sensations in real-time, allowing users to feel rain, gunshots and hugs from virtual settings.

The vest weighs less than two pounds and is made of Italian Lycra, fabric, carbon electrodes, conductive gel and elastic cables. It is compatible with PC, mobile, console and virtual reality devices and for multiplayer and online gaming, according to Owo.

The Owo application for phone or tablet is used to calibrate the vest. It‘s meant for users older than 18. Users can clean the vest by handwashing, according to the company. The vest comes in six sizes, ranging from 36.6-inch waists to 52.3-inch waists.

It works semi-natively with games including “Fortnite,” “Rocket League” and “League of Legends,” according to Owo.

Raycon Gaming Headphones

During CES 2022, headphones company Raycon announced a product line aimed at gamers with an expected sale date in the second quarter.

The Gaming Headphones have multi-platform connectivity, surround sound spatial audio, built-in high-definition mics, dual 2.4G ultra-low latency and Bluetooth, according to the New York-based company.

The headphones have 25 hours of battery life and immersive vibration haptics, according to the company.

LetinAR T-Glasses

South Korea-based LetinAR received an innovation award for its T-Glasses brand of augmented reality smartglasses meant to be worn like conventional glasses. The glasses weigh less than one-fifth of a pound, about two ounces, and have 400 by 640 pixel resolution.

The glasses have an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) micro-display that reflects onto tiny mirrors in the lens, according to the company. The mirrors aim to give wearers privacy and real-world vision while providing clear artificial images and weighing less than traditional AR viewing devices.

The company was founded in 2016 and has raised at least $4.3 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.

Shiftall HaritoraX

Representatives of Shiftall, a subsidiary of Panasonic, demonstrated the company’s HaritoraX motion-tracking device for waist and leg movements.

During the demonstration, a company representative donned a virtual reality headset from Oculus – which shares the same parent company as Facebook, recently renamed Meta – and a virtual avatar on his Alienware laptop stood up and sat down at the same time as the demonstrator.

HaritoraX is scheduled to ship in the U.S. in spring. Thousands of units have shipped in Japan already, according to the company. The device works for SteamVR and tracks hip and leg movements for metaverse users. The device has a built-in rechargeable battery for more than 10 hours of power on a single charge.

The device works with Oculus Quest 2 and other headsets, according to the Tokyo-based Shiftall. The company has 25 employees.

Jabra Elite And Enhance Earbuds

Jabra, a brand of earbuds from Danish manufacturer GN Group, brought new offerings to CES 2022.

The charcoal-colored Elite 4 Active earbuds pictured above (top row, third from the left) is meant for use during active workouts, according to the company. They feature Spotify Tap playback and are Amazon Alexa certified. The active noise cancellation feature blocks out background noise.

The black Enhance Plus line of wireless hearing enhancement earbuds pictured above to the right are aimed at users with mild to moderate hearing loss, according to the company. It has a warp compressor for sounds analysis, digital noise reduction for listening and speech, digital feedback suppression and binaural beamformer with directionality to focus on important sounds.

The cream-colored Elite 7 Pro earbuds pictured in the top left received a new Bluetooth multipoint feature to keep users connected to two devices at once. Users can move between personal and professional devices quickly.

Garmin Venu 2 Plus

Garmin brought its new Venu 2 Plus GPS smartwatch to CES 2022 this year.

The watch allows users to take calls and use a voice assistant to text, according to the Olathe, Kan.-based company. The watch provides sleep scores, tracks stress, monitors energy and other measurements.

The battery lasts up to nine days, according to Garmin. The watch works with the Siri, Google Assistant and Bixby digital assistants.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch4 series – on CES 2022’s “wearable technologies” honoree list – brings a new BioActive sensor to measure skeletal muscle, water retention, body fat percentage and other bioelectrical data.

Watch4 has 24-hour electrocardiogram readings and heart rhythm monitoring and allows users to cast workouts to their smart TVs. Samsung introduced the watch earlier this year at its Unpacked 2021 product event.

The Watch4 supports more than 90 exercises. It counts steps, checks calories and can monitor location with GPS. The watch also managed sleep quality, including a way to detect if users snore, according to South Korea-based Samsung.