It’s the end of October. That means that ski season is just a few weeks away. If you live in a part of the world where ski resorts dominate the winter sky, you may want to set your sights on a new pair of ski goggles. Oakley’s latest ski goggles are more than just plastic. The Oakley Airwave goggles act as both ski goggles and a complete display, similar to Google’s glasses. The Airwave goggles show skiers information like speed, maps, friend locations, and a whole bunch of other data. All of these details are digitized directly onto the goggle glass.
How the Oakley Airwave Glasses Work
Oakley has teamed up with Recon Instruments in order to create the Airwave goggles. Skier data is displayed at the bottom right side of the goggles, so that skiers can still see any given trail. By listing ski data that’s useful to skiers, the Airwave goggles make skiing a high-tech adventure. The information that’s displayed inside of the Airwave goggles appears as it would on a 14-inch display, so it’s easy to read and see.
With the purchase of the Airwave goggles comes a free iPhone, Android, or iPod Touch app and a remote control that can be mounted on a skier’s wrist. Using the app and remote control, users can view all kinds of different data. One particularly useful bit of information is the “find friends” feature. Friends who have downloaded the free app can be found using the Airwave goggles – no purchase necessary.
All it takes is one person who has a pair of Airwave goggles to see where everyone else who has the app is located. Further, all incoming text messages and phone calls are displayed inside the Airwave goggles, and responding to these messages is just a matter of tapping an automated response button located on the Airwave remote control (or answering the call). More than 600 trail maps are pre-loaded into the Oakley goggles, and the Airwave goggles also record and save any new trails taken.
Pricing and Availability
As you might have guessed, goggles like these aren’t on the cheap side. For Oakley’s latest high-tech goggles you will have to shell out $599. Oakley claims that the goggles are fairly durable too. So far, reviews of the Airwave goggles have been positive. While it might seem like viewing a bunch of information while plowing down a steep trail would be distracting, the data that the Airwave goggles displays is actually quite easy to view and ignore if desired.
As far as availability goes, Oakley has stated that the Airwave goggles will be available at the end of this month. If you have your heart set on a new pair of goggles for this ski season, you might want to head to your local ski shop to see what Oakley has in store. It certainly looks like Oakley’s Airwave goggles will be making it onto many holiday lists this year. For additional information and to order your Airwaves, check out the main Oakley website.