Mercari R4D Debuts AI Vision Shopping Experience Using Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses

Vuzix Corporation, a leading supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technology and products,  together with Mercari, Inc., under its research and development organization Mercari R4D, are pleased to announce the start of a AI vision proof of concept shopping experience for the Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses that strives to deliver e-commerce product information privately to the user by applying XR and Edge AI.

Using a simple hand gesture and the Vuzix Blade camera, users can retrieve similar products listed for sale on the Mercari marketplace, along with product details such as selling price, without taking their phone out of their pocket.  The Mercari marketplace app, launched in 2013, has been downloaded over 100 million times in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.  The Mercari AI vision enhancement shopping application, developed by Mercari’s R4D research and development arm, has been optimized for the UI/UX of the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses and will be showcased to the public for the first time at CES 2019.

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“We are thrilled that Mercari will be showcasing their AI vision enhancement shopping application on the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses. This app delivers new innovative ways for individuals to comparative shop and connect e-commerce from the digital world to the real world with a simple hand gesture,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix President and Chief Executive Officer.

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“We have begun a proof of concept to optimize the UI/UX of our marketplace app Mercari for smart glasses, using the Vuzix Blade AR smart glasses. With just a hand gesture, you can get information on an item from camera images taken with the Vuzix Blade, search for related items on Mercari, and see information such as the selling price. We are striving to eventually be able to use smart glasses to buy and sell items on Mercari. In order to respect the privacy of users, by using edge AI technology, information retrieval will be conducted as much as possible within the device and not on the cloud. Furthermore, the search is limited to only the spot to which the user points. The prototype will be available at CES 2019, so if you’re interested, feel free to stop by the Vuzix booth,” stated Yuki Hamada, CPO of Mercari.

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