Recon's products delivered live activity metrics, GPS maps, and notifications directly to the user's eye.
[3][4] It also partnered with enterprise software vendors in order to make its latest smart eyewear device, the Jet, suitable for industrial applications.
[10] According to a Bloomberg report in October 2017, Intel had in fact completely closed its Recon Instruments division already in early summer 2017.
That project was undertaken by co-founders Dan Eisenhardt, Hamid Abdollahi, Fraser Hall, and Darcy Hughes at the University of British Columbia, Robert H. Lee Sauder School of Business.
Recon Instruments incorporated in January 2008, operating from small office and lab spaces rented from the University of British Columbia.
Because of that patent and the challenges presented by the technology's small form factor and intended operating conditions, the team eventually chose to focus on a winter sports product.
[citation needed] In January 2012, Recon received $10 million in Series A funding from Vanedge Capital and Kopin Corporation.
[16][17][11] After the acquisition, Recon stayed in Vancouver and planned to make use of Intel's technological resources in order to "develop smart device platforms for a broader set of customers and market segments.
According to a Bloomberg report in October 2017, Intel had in fact completely closed its Recon Instruments division already in early summer 2017.
It was designed for winter sports and featured a small LCD screen embedded into a snow goggle frame by eyewear maker Zeal Optics, which is now a subsidiary of Maui Jim, Inc.[18] The Transcend displayed data like GPS maps, temperature, speed, and altitude, and it allowed users to share that data.
Users could fit them into specially designed "Recon-Ready" goggles from eyewear makers including Uvex, Alpina, and Briko.
[20] Oakley also integrated the MOD Live into a specially designed snow goggle frame and marketed the resulting product as the Airwave.
The Snow2 heads-up display is designed to fit inside compatible eyewear from Oakley, Smith, Scott, Uvex, Alpina, Briko, and Zeal.
Recon has also partnered with enterprise software firms SAP[5] and APX Labs[6] with the aim of making Jet suitable for industrial applications in fields like manufacturing and oil-and-gas extraction.
ReconOS also features GPS maps that display the locations of nearby friends and rotate depending on the user's head orientation.
When a Recon device is paired with a smartphone, ReconOS can display call and SMS notifications, and it allows users to control the phone's music playback.
Connecting a Recon device to a smartphone enables features like friend tracking, call and SMS notification display, and music playback controls.
Frequently voiced criticisms were the high price point, insufficient battery life, wearer distraction and limited field of view by the non-see-through (solid) micro display, unsatisfactory GPS lag and accuracy, complex user interface, and general software problems.