ZionEyez are a Seattle based company bringing to market a Ray-Ban-like pair of sunglasses equipped with a micro video camera that delivers first person video recording in 720p. There's 8GB of flash memory inside the frame, a micro USB charging and data transfer port and the Eyesz can also connect to a computer via Bluetooth. If only Don Johnson had a pair of these ... those Miami drug lords would have had no chance.
The camera is located in the top right of the frame, nesting inside the eyelet detailing. Made by Omnivision (which also produces cameras for Apple's iPhone and iPad), it records 720p at 30 frames per second and sports a wide angle, fixed focus lens.
A microphone is mounted on the arm of the glasses and sound is recorded in mono at an MP3 quality bitrate of 128kb/s. Video is encoded in H.264.
With the Eyez app, the sunglasses can wirelessly transmit to an iOS or Android device via WiFi 802.11n and stream video to social networking sites. The 350mAh lithium ion battery provides enough juice for three hours of recording and to turn them on you just tap the power sensor on the glasses' arm.
A set of clear and shaded lenses are included which are interchangeable to suit the lighting conditions. The shaded lenses will filter 100% of UVA/UVB radiation. Prescription lenses can also be snapped into the frame if required.
There's a couple of advantages to the approach - unlike smartphones or digital cameras you don't have to hold an arm up for an extended period of time to capture the action and you don't miss out on the live experience as you would when watching through a tiny screen.
ZionEyez is offering a $50 discount on pre-orders for winter 2011 delivery. The price at launch will be US199.
Like the concept but not the style? Maybe Polaroid's Lady Gaga branded take on the theme is more your thing.
