A pair of sunglasses that double as a motorcycle navigation heads-up-display (HUD) have been launched by technology company, Blucap. The lightweight ‘Blucap Moto’ sunglasses integrate Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 SoC to provide Bluetooth LE® wireless connectivity between the sunglasses and the rider’s smartphone, as well as the handlebar-mounted remote control accessory. The remote control employs Nordic’s nRF52810 SoC to enable wireless connectivity.
Once the sunglasses are paired to the user’s smartphone, riders can use the fully featured ‘Blucap Go’ navigation app to relay directions and other important information from the smartphone to the sunglasses’ high brightness MicroLED-powered HUD during a ride. Directions and other important information are displayed in the rider’s peripheral vision ensuring they receive timely navigation assistance without taking their eyes off the road, or being distracted by a handlebar-mounted smartphone. The HUD can also display other information such as incoming phone calls, SMS messages, and battery life status, while the customized ‘waveguide’ lens plates offer high transparency, anti-fog’ and anti-glare reflection, as well as the ability to be fitted to prescription lenses.
The nR52840’s ultra-compact form factor enables the SoC to be embedded in the arm of the sunglasses without affecting the fit or feel of the sunglasses on the rider. In addition to wireless connectivity, the Nordic SoC’s 64 MHz, Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with floating point unit (FPU) supervises the HUD and the logic for the augmented reality (AR) interface.
The SoC’s low power consumption ensures the Blucap Moto’s custom 110 mAh lithium battery can support an entire day of riding (for example 300 km or a 10-hour journey with regular navigation use) between recharges. The nRF52840 has been engineered to minimize power consumption with a fully automatic power management system. An embedded Hall effect sensor also conserves battery life by automatically turning the sunglasses on or off based on whether they are being worn or stored. The handlebar remote uses two CR2032 coin cell batteries, which typically last for over six months with normal usage.
“For Blucap Moto, the nRF52840 SoC was the ideal balance between size, power consumption, and performance,” continues Zhu Ning. “Battery life was a crucial consideration during the design, especially for the glasses. The use of MicroLED as the AR light source and leveraging the lightweight Arm CPU capability of the nRF52840 SoC were decisions made to optimize battery life.
“In addition to the product itself, the communication and technical support from the Nordic team were very helpful and encouraging for us as a startup. It gave us confidence in planning the entire technical roadmap for our motorcycle glasses series.”
Short-range wireless connectivity is integral to these systems and both Bluetooth Low Energy and 2.4GHz proprietary offer compelling and complimentary use cases. The nRF52 Series multiprotocol SoCs can support both of these technologies simultaneously making them a very suitable family of devices for VR/AR applications.
