Intel smart glasses no more as it shifts focus away from wearables

(Image credit: The Verge)

Intel will no longer work on its smart glasses initiative and will be closing the doors of its wearables division, it has been revealed. 

In a new report by The Information, it is thought that Intel will walk away completely from the hardware part of the wearables market, which would mean that its Vaunt smart glasses concept won’t be released and work on its AR projects is to cease as well. 

Given this area of its business houses around 200 people, it is a big chunk of Intel that will no longer operate. 

Intel isn’t a big name in the wearables market, but it has tried to enter the area. Back in 2014, it bought wearable maker Basis but it ended up winding up that part of the business in 2016. 

This was after it had to recall the Basis Peak when reports came in of the smartwatch overheating. 

No moAR

It instead pushed its efforts into the AR space and added its chips to the Tag Heuer Connected range of smartwatches and also working with the likes of New Balance and Oakley.

It was thought the company was done with wearable hardware, until earlier this year The Verge got its hands/face on the Intel Vaunt, a pair of smart glasses that actually looked like glasses. 

This and its continued push into augmented reality did make the world think that it was dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what wearables can do, but now this doesn't seem to be the case. 

Via Engadget

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.