Now I’m hardly what you’d call an athlete, but I’ve often been sucked into a sport because of some of the gadgets involved (don’t ask me how many fitness trackers I’ve bought since I started running). The recently released Apex HD+ goggles, which California-based Liquid Image was keen to show off here at CES Unveiled, is one of those gadgets — skiers and snowboarders can use them to record video on the fly as they zip down the slopes.
But let’s back up a minute first — the Apex sports a 12MP sensor and is capable of recording 720p video at 60fps or 1080p video at 30fps, and users fond of photographs can easily toggle the camera into its continuous-shot mode. Really though, the big draw here is that one of the Apex models is capable of pumping out its own Wi-Fi signal, which lets users stream their first-person exploits directly to an iPhone or Android device (provided they’ve got the related app already installed). Naturally, you won’t always be streaming videos, so users can connect the Apex HD+ to a computer and pull files off of microSD cards as large as 32GB.
As a nearly lifelong wearer of glasses, I had to try on the Apex HD+ for myself. First impressions? It’s remarkably comfortable considering just how big the thing is, though the control block can be hard to access since it’s normally stored inside a handsome fabric sleeve. A small LED is nestled just inside the top edge of the goggles to reassure users that the thing is actually recording (a blinking blue light means it’s recording in 720p, while red signals 1080p recording, etc.)
And what of the video streaming? Quality was generally quite good — company reps had their demo pairs linked up to a Nexus 10, and the whole affair was crisp and largely stutter free. Granted, the camera goggles were within fairly close range so actual use in the field may not be quite as sterling, but it seems more than up to the task of sharing videos with buddies nearby.
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