RealWear

RealWear is a developer of hands-free wearable devices that can deliver vital information to industrial workers. Its latest headset, the Navigator Z1 was announced at CES 2024, with the company dubbing it as the ‘world's most advanced smart glasses’. The smart glasses are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6490 chipset with an embedded AI engine. Other features include ATEX/IECEx safety certifications, making it safe to wear in inflammable atmospheres, a swappable battery, and a camera and voice recognition feature for AI-guided workflows.

In January 2023, RealWear debuted its Navigator 520 at CES 2023 which featured its new HyperDisplay feature. This technology provided users with an HD display and access to integrated remote guidance collaboration tools alongside access to applications such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Further, the company launched an App Marketplace, RealWear Connect (to simplify support requests for frontline workers) and a developer toolkit in March 2023.

Older headsets include the Navigator 500 (launched in January 2022), the HMT-1Z1 (June 2018), and the HMT-1 (September 2017).

RealWear devices are sold outright and range between USD 2,000 and USD 6,020. In the 18 months to July 2019, the company shipped 15,000 HMT systems and reported more than 1,300 enterprise customers. RealWear also offers software solutions including a cloud dashboard for the centralized deployment, management, and tracking of devices. It worked on 120 workforce software applications during the same period.

It acquired the assets of Kopin in August 2019 for USD 3.5 million to extend its segment reach. Kopin is a developer of wearable technologies and critical components for integration into wearable computing systems for military, industrial, and consumer products.

Key customers and partnerships

BMW, one of its clients, deployed the HMT-1 in its US dealerships to allow technicians to remotely connect to engineering experts located offsite. Other clients included Colgate, Shell, Uros, Globalfoundries, and Airbus. In August 2021, it partnered with Lenovo, who certified the RealWear HMT-1 devices for use on its ThinkReality platform. Moreover, it entered a joint venture with Chinese AR company RealMax Group in March 2018, which allowed it to access state-backed industrial companies operating in the country.

Funding and financials

In February 2023, the company announced its decision to publicly list via an SPAC deal, valued at USD 375.5 million, although this was abandoned in April 2023 given subdued market conditions. In June 2022, Realwear raised USD 23.5 million in a Series C funding round led by Foundry Group. The fresh funds were allocated to support the launch of a software and services platform to complement its hardware products.