May Update: Pre-production Work
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 01, 2018 at 01:13:42 AM

Hey backers! 

It’s been another whirlwind of a month! Production activities are underway and represent a big shift in our day-to-day activities. Supporting production means we spend a lot more time on our feet (away from computers) doing things like touring lines, troubleshooting production problems, and working with our partners directly in the factory. Let’s dive in! 

Electronics 

In our previous update, we talked about pre-production (PP) runs. PP runs are done in smaller volumes and are meant to ensure the manufacturing process is stable before ramping up volumes to many thousands of units at a time. Unfortunately, in our first PP run of about 40 units, we had quite a low yield rate of about 50%. Yield issues are to be expected, and we've been working with our partners to identify and fix issues in order to improve our yield. The good news about doing PP runs in smaller batches is that the cost of fixing the problem is kept low (i.e. ~20 failed boards are not as expensive as, say, 500).

To break it down into more detail, here are the observations from the pre-production run:

• 25% of the boards worked perfectly off the line. 
• 25% had bugs that could be immediately addressed and fixed. 
• 25% had problems that could only be fixed by redoing the run. 
• 25% were unable to be repaired.

Clearly, this yield rate is too low and unstable. Since the run, we’ve made a few tweaks to the board (like shifting some traces further apart in order to avoid electrical shortages during manufacturing, changing the ink used on the board so visual inspections are easier) and improvements to the SMT process (such as perfecting the alignment of the boards in the machines) that should significantly improve yield. After assessing our fixes in conjunction with our factory partners, we’re expected to be able to achieve upwards of 90% yield.

There were also human errors that we identified, which requires retraining operators and clarifying instructions for use during manufacturing. For example, a few reels of components ran out during manufacturing and were not replenished, meaning some boards were missing components. There were also a few instances of the wrong component being placed, likely due to an operator loading the wrong reel into the machine. After touring and meeting with our partners, we’re confident these issues will be resolved.

We also wanted to spend a brief moment to touch on exactly why electronics like ours have these road bumps along the way. Many backers may wonder why some products seem to have a smoother time getting parts made. While it’s true that many of the obstacles we’ve faced are due to our own mistakes, or at times inexperience, it’s also true that our electronics are fairly complex. We specifically designed them to be as thin and small as possible, achieved in part by combining rigid and flexible PCBs. We also use some of the smallest chips and components available, all of which must fit perfectly within our board’s narrow dimensions. These types of products can be hard to get right, but that is also one of the reasons we’re so excited about Vue. Getting this right means our product can be smaller, thinner, and lighter than virtually all other options on the market. Getting close to our vision of smart glasses that are indistinguishable from normal glasses is core to our mission, and these bumps are part of that process. We appreciate everyone hanging in there!

Case 

In the previous update, we mentioned that we were finalizing our mold and waiting on samples. Since then, we’ve finished tooling and inspected T0 samples! Check out the finished mold below.

The T0 units looked great, though they had some of the expected imperfections that all T0 samples have. Namely, there were some deformities, scuff marks, and other visual defects that can be removed by altering machine settings and touching up the mold.

As mentioned in the beginning of the update, supporting production involves a lot of work away from the desk. Specifically, we’ve been spending many hours and days with our factory partners to solve problems and to assist in production activities. For our T0 case samples, we spent six hours at the factory helping to actively troubleshoot defects until we eliminated them. Below you can see the finished result (i.e. the first T0 samples)!

We’ve already provided feedback for T0 and are in the process of working on T1. The cases are looking great. Check out the video below showing the interface of the glasses and the case using production samples from the mold.

We also took a few beauty shots (not renders!) to give everyone a sense of how everything is coming together. 

We expect the case to be done sometime next month. We’ll keep you posted on how everything goes.

Frames 

As mentioned in the previous update, we were happy with the polished frames and have finished tooling revisions. We had a brief hiccup while preparing for PP runs that required a bit of problem solving. We noticed some cracks in parts of the frames, which was highly unexpected. The actual grade of plastic we are using is meant to be flexible, so a brittle crack is an unexpected failure mode. In layman’s terms, this means the plastic should bend considerably before cracking, but in this particular case they had not been bent at all.

Upon investigation, we discovered that the problem was due to human error. The operator running the molding machine used a batch of plastic that had been left inside the machine for a long time (likely days or maybe weeks). It is standard procedure to purge this plastic, as leaving it exposed to ambient humidity and temperature will degrade its properties before molding. The solution is simple—ensure that before each batch, the material is verified and any leftover material is purged before use. 

We’re in the process of receiving new samples to verify that the cracks do not form, and then the frames will be locked down for production. Otherwise the frames are looking great!

We’ve also received new samples of the arms that include the IML colors and textures. The new samples closely align with the look and feel that we envisioned when we launched this project.

We anticipate finishing up with IML quite soon and will keep everyone posted through future updates.

Packaging 

While the packaging design and assets are done, we’re still working with our factory to look at ways we can reduce the overall weight of the package. We can do this by using thinner materials for inserts or the cardstock on the box. A lighter package means lowered freight costs, which goes a long way when you are shipping tens of thousands of units! We’ll keep you informed of any interesting updates or changes along the way. 

App 

App development has been moving along nicely. Our Android app is complete and we are currently working through some bugs to prepare for launch. Below is a brief glimpse into the app.

Note that we will have more content available to walk everyone through the app and its features as we get closer to shipping. 

The iOS app is following close behind. There's a bit of development work left and then it can proceed to testing. Apps for each operating system (Android and iOS) will be available when the product ships, but likely not before. 

Couriers 

For the past few months we’ve been speaking with several different global courier services to help fulfill your rewards. The logistics behind this project have been more difficult than we anticipated, specifically because installing lenses makes a product unique. For a typical consumer electronics device, a courier can simply grab any finished product off the shelf, print a label, and ship it. With Vue, nearly all of our 15,000+ glasses are unique, meaning that as soon as lenses are installed, the product is only intended for one recipient. This means that a courier can’t just grab any product out of the 15,000+ glasses, but instead they have to grab exactly the right one.

This just means there’s more work on the courier side to ensure that everyone is getting the right product, but we’re working through it! We’ll be finalizing who we’re working with soon and will have everything in place to begin fulfillment once units are rolling off the production line.

Timelines 

The yield rate issues have pushed us behind again, but we’re already in the process of addressing the concerns appropriately. After implementing changes from the ~40 unit pre-production run in May, we are now preparing for a run of 100 units in June. After assessing yield rate, we’ll be able to move into a batch of 1000 units in July and can begin shipping. We’ll then ramp up each batch and ship progressively. As always, we’ll keep you posted. We’re almost there!

Instagram 

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram! We post content to our story throughout the week, giving everyone a behind-the-scenes look at some of our daily activities. It’s a great way to stay connected in between our big, monthly progress updates.

To see our stories, click our logo on the top left of our profile (check out Instagram’s tutorials here).

Support 

Reach us at [email protected] with any questions, and remember the following before emailing: 

• The quickest way for us to help is by reaching out to [email protected]. 
• To change your shipping address go to vue.backerkit.com and enter the email address used with your pledge. 
• If you are emailing us to ask about your pledge, you must send the email using the email that you originally used to make the pledge. For example, we cannot provide account access if you originally used “[email protected]” but you now email us from “[email protected]”. 
• If you were charged for upgrades, it may have shown up on your statement as our company name "Vigo" instead of "Vue Glasses". Please do not dispute this with your credit card company. Please email us to verify the charge. 

We receive hundreds more emails than normal immediately after posting updates, so we apologize if it takes longer than expected for us to get back to you! 

Until next time! 

With love, 

the Vue team

April Update—Samples Galore
almost 6 years ago – Sat, Apr 28, 2018 at 11:23:09 PM

Hey backers! 

April has shaped up to be a busy month! As we get closer to mass-production, there are lots of different areas that are finally coming together. This means that each day has been packed with production preparation, factory visits, and testing. Let’s dive right in! 

PCBs 

You’ll recall from our previous update that we had to evaluate new printed circuit board (PCB) + surface mount technology (SMT) suppliers. We spent weeks sourcing factories we wanted to work with, arranged for small volume runs to be made, and have now evaluated the results! Below you will see the first set of PCBs we received. The black and blue samples (left and middle, respectively) are from two new suppliers, while the green one (far right) is our old supplier.

Prior to performing SMT on the boards, we inspected the new samples to look for any obvious errors. Errors might include anything from a dent or damage to the board, shorted electrical connections, or even a tear in the FPC.

We were really happy with both of the samples. The quality of the boards looked great, and there were no obvious defects from what we could see. The boards were then put through SMT where all of the components were added. Before testing the finished boards, we threw them under an x-ray scanner so we could have a detailed look at all of the connections.

After inspecting, we set up a miniature assembly line in the office and had the entire team work on assembly. Not everyone on the team is technical, and not everyone works on the assembly aspect of the device, so this was an opportunity for everyone to learn the process and appreciate the complexity. Everyone was also assembling their own pair of Vue to wear, so there was some motivation to pay attention to detail.

The assembly process was a success. The new electronics appear to be working great, and now everyone on the team has up-to-date units comprised of pre-production frames and electronics.

Electronics Production

We’re happy to say that after evaluating the boards, we've identified our preferred suppliers and can now move forward with electronics production! This a huge, huge milestone for the project. 

Next up—optimization and pre-production (PP) runs. During this stage we’ll manufacture small batches, make sure the process is stable, and slowly ramp up our quantities. Batches will start at 500, then grow to 2000, then 5000, and so on. These aren’t exact quantities, but rather illustrates the point that everything doesn’t happen in one go. Batch production lets us catch errors on the fly, so that with each batch we can improve the process. 

T2 Molds

We received our T2 mold revisions and have been inspecting them, and they look good! At this point, the blemishes that exist on the exterior of the frames can’t be resolved through adjusting the mold. Instead we’ll have to polish the frames through a tumbling and painting process. Our factory ran a few samples of this process, and you can see the results below.

The differences between these samples are more pronounced in real life, as the tiny blemishes and scuff marks on raw samples are hard to capture with a camera. Next up is pre-production runs and final negotiations (some of which we were doing today), then we’ll be starting frame production! This will be another monumental milestone, and we’re super excited about it.

Charging Case 

As mentioned in the previous update, we took a bit more time to finalize the charging case design. After doing design reviews with our factory in early April, we commenced tooling. Check out the CAD model below to see how complex tools are even for a relatively simple part of the product like the charging case.

The tools were being cut throughout April, and are in the final stages of shaping and refining. 

Though we originally expected to receive samples last week, we decided to take a bit more time on the review process earlier this month. As with the frames, we expect this to minimize the number of tool revisions that have to be made. Our schedule is such that there is buffer between the assembly stage of mass production and case production, so this should have no impact.

In the meantime, we’re finalizing colors for the charging case! We have it narrowed down to a few options, and will let you know what we decide in the subsequent update.

We’ve been more drawn to the dark exterior and light interior, which helps the darker frames stand out a bit more. Stay tuned for final color choices!

IML

Part of the frames must undergo a special process called In-Mold Labeling (IML). For Vue, we use IML for the various strips of color on the legs of the glasses. Instead of adding color as a post-production process, we can actually add colors and textures to the arms as they are being molded. We’ve been evaluating samples of the legs recently, as seen below.

As exciting as it was to get these samples, the colors and textures were quite off. But don't worry—we'll continue the sampling process until the colors look proper. This is pretty typical, as colors don't always look the same once they come out of the mold. We’ve already given our factory feedback and will be receiving new samples shortly. We’ll continue to refine them and expect them to be ready in advance of mass-production.

Labeling

Product labels are another important part of this work, though certainly not as exciting as the rest of what we discuss here every month. Labels can be mandated by various countries (such as FCC and CE), recommended by international institutions, or included by the company to help inform the customer.

We’re working with our factories to specify where the labels go and what they look like. This is a pretty simple process, but it’s also very important! We’ll need to make sure our labels are compliant with government standards, and that we’ve passed any mandated tests so that we can ultimately ship the product.

Packaging

We’ve finalized our packaging design and have been reviewing pre-production samples. This was a surprisingly tedious process, at it involved not just the design of the outer boxes, but also the corresponding inserts and instruction manuals. For example, check out the trays that sit within the packaging, which will hold the glasses case.

We know you all probably want to see more of the packaging, but we’ve decided on keeping some of this a surprise. We are really happy with how the packaging has turned out, and we want the unboxing experience for everyone to feel exciting and new. We’ve already chosen our packaging factory and are working on pre-production runs to make sure they are prepared for mass production. We think you’ll really like the look and feel of it all!

Lenses

We've received pre-production lens samples and they fit the frames well. We’re having additional lenses made which will be tested with polished frames, since the tumbling and painting process can have minuscule effects on dimensions that change how easy it is for lenses to be inserted. Once we confirm the fit on those samples, we can give our supplier the go-ahead for production.

Timelines

Though a few things have shifted (T2 samples arrived early, charging case reviews went longer, etc) it still appears to fit within our recent timeline. Note that most of the sections in the chart aren’t hard dates. In general we assume that the start of each of those sections of work may be off (as in can occur earlier or later) by a few days.

Next up—pre-production reviews, optimization, and officially kicking off mass production! Should be exciting work ahead.

Instagram

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram! We post content to our story throughout the week, giving everyone a behind-the-scenes look at some of our daily activities. 

It’s a great way to stay connected in between our big, monthly progress updates. So if you're keen on more content, follow our page here.

Support 

Reach us at [email protected] with any questions, and remember the following before emailing: 

• To change your shipping address go to vue.backerkit.com and enter the email address used with your pledge. 
• If you were charged for upgrades, it may have shown up on your statement as our company name "Vigo" instead of "Vue Glasses". Please do not dispute this with your credit card company. Please email us to verify the charge. 
• The quickest way for us to help is by reaching out to [email protected]. 

We receive hundreds more emails than normal immediately after posting updates, so we apologize if it takes longer than expected for us to get back to you! 

Until next time! 

With love, 

the Vue team

March Update—Mass Production Prep
about 6 years ago – Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 11:58:14 PM

Hey backers!

Welcome to another Vue update! As noted in February, we reconvened with our factories in early March after Chinese New Year ended. We immediately assessed how prepared we were for production. This work included meeting with factories, going over molds, testing electronics, and making some adjustments to production schedules. Let’s dive in!

Timelines

Unfortunately, we’re not going to hit the previous goal of shipping in March. Our new timeline is to ship in June. As always, we apologize for not being able to follow through on earlier estimates. No one likes delays, especially backers, and we can appreciate how frustrating it is to have to continue waiting to see your rewards come to life. We don’t take these decisions lightly, and we do truly apologize for having to make you wait again. Though frustrating, these delays are necessary. As Kickstarter has mentioned in their blogs, a delayed product “is eventually good,” but a rushed product “is forever bad.”

The cause for this schedule change has to do with supply chain management. The silver lining here is that we now have more breathing room to polish other aspects of the device. The adjusted schedule below provides a detailed, week-by-week look at what we'll be working on going forward. 

 

Note that there are some assumptions made in this timeline. For example, we've listed a T3 adjustment for the frames, but that's just a precaution. We won't know if a T3 revision is necessary until we receive T2 samples. With this schedule in mind, let's go over what we've been working on.

Electronics Suppliers

As you may recall from previous updates, the SMT (surface mount technology) factory is where our PCBs (printed circuit boards) go to get populated with all the components that make Vue work. In two of our recent batches of boards, we noticed a decline in yield rate (i.e. fewer boards were working). When we investigated the potential root causes, we discovered that our SMT factory switched the supplier they used to make our PCBs without telling us, likely in an effort to cut their own costs. This new supplier was producing lower quality PCBs. To solve this, we met with their original, better PCB supplier to try to cut a deal directly with them. Unfortunately, in order to make such a deal, the original PCB supplier quoted us double the original cost to make the boards.

In light of these quality and management issues, we’ve made the tough decision to switch factories. We are already evaluating 2 PCB factories and 2 SMT factories in parallel. Here’s how this will work: 2 separate factories will make our PCBs and we’ll then pass those PCBs to 2 new SMT factories. After we get final, populated boards back, we’ll evaluate the quality of each board combination and finalize agreements with whichever facilities produced the highest quality boards. The reason this change will take so much time is because producing boards with our level of complexity takes a while—typically around 22 days. 

Once we realized this change had to be made, we hit the ground running and began sourcing new factories. Below is some footage from some facilities we were pretty impressed with, taken in early March. 

Though all factories these days have some degree of automation, some factories leverage it more than others. This type of technology helps improve yield rate by offering greater control over manufacturing.  

While we are frustrated with this schedule change, changing factories is simply the right thing to do. If we proceeded to mass production with our previous supplier, we risked shipping finished rewards with faulty boards. By unearthing these issues now, we are able to work on resolving them before the product is in your hands. 

Injection Molding

Our factories finished our T1 mold revisions in early March as expected. Overall, most of the issues with the T0 samples were resolved. Namely, the lens inserts can now be easily removed without damaging the frames. We also fixed another issue where uneven cooling of the plastic caused a section of the frame to shrink, creating a small dimple.

To remove the dimples, we changed the pressure gradient across each molding inlet to ensure that the pressure near the shrinkage area was increased. 

We also attempted to reduce marks that the molding equipment left on the frames. These marks can be seen on the T0 samples below.

The visibility of these markings in the T1 samples was reduced, but not eliminated. In the image below, you can still see these faint markings.

We'll now proceed with creating T2 samples that will completely remove these blemishes. Thankfully, these adjustments are cosmetic rather than mechanical, so the adjustments are quick and don’t require any large-scale redesigns that might impact other parts of the device.

Charging Case

The charging case has also needed some updating. We were meant to receive T0 samples for the charging case shortly after the Chinese New Year, but have elected to push it back in light of our other scheduling issues. This gives us enough time to make additional refinements to the case that we feel really happy about, and we’re confident you will too.

For example, we’ve updated some dimensions and sourced a new magnet for the closing mechanism. In the old case design, it was easy for the case to open when held upside down.

The obvious downside here is that if your case was upside down in a purse or backpack, or if you were holding it loosely in your hand, the lid might flip open. Not only would this potentially disrupt charging, but the glasses might fall out as well. The new adjustments help ensure the case stays closed.

While we don’t recommend ever shaking the case as vigorously as you can see us doing in these GIFs, it does demonstrate that the new case design is more robust. 

Overall, the case is coming together quite nicely. Compared with our original designs, it is compact and lightweight. Check out the latest prototype below. 

As with other areas of the device, we'll keep you posted on each new sample and any revisions that need to be made. 

Testing

Something we're excited for backers to experience is the on-board notifications in Vue. For example, when you double-tap the glasses, you’ll hear your daily activity summary (i.e. steps taken and calories burned). Vue will ship with these notifications set to a default volume (which you can adjust in the app). We've been testing Vue around the office to best determine what this default volume should be—ideally one that is clearly audible in most situations with minimal leakage. 

In the video below, Tiantian is testing our proposed default volume. In the foreground of the video you can see a decibel meter, which measures the "loudness" of an environment. We won’t go into the science behind the scale, but it’s important to know that each rise in 10 dBA units is the equivalent of doubling the “loudness” of the environment. For example, 60 dBA is similar to an office, whereas 70 dBA is twice as loud and closer to a vacuum cleaner. See here for more info.

The office room we're in hovers around 53 dBA (so around what you can expect in a typical office or suburban home). Here we're confirming that Tiantian can hear the notifications clearly while minimizing the leakage (in this instance, there is virtually none). 

Note that tests like these are subjective. Everyone experiences audio differently and might prefer to use Vue at different volumes. What we're focused on is finding a default notification volume that works for the widest range of people out-of-the-box, but that can still be adjusted if necessary.

Behind The Scenes—With Instagram!

One thing that we continue to hear from backers is that you want to see more of what we’re working on! We can appreciate that a month is a long time to wait between updates. We’ve decided to start leveraging Instagram Stories to share glimpses into our daily work here at Vue.

From now on, we’ll periodically post little clips of our day-to-day activities, including soldering circuits, designing models in CAD, assembling prototypes, touring factory lines, and more. To see this content, just follow our Instagram account at vue_glasses.

Make sure to follow our account (red arrow) and tap the circular picture of our logo (green arrow) to see our content! Note that no updates or new information will ever be made through Instagram—that will always be reserved for our monthly updates which go out to you, our backers, first. Instagram will simply be a place that backers can go to for small glimpses into our routines without flooding your inbox. 

Prescription Update 

To accommodate backers in light of our schedule shift, we’re going to continue taking updates to prescriptions until April 13th, 2018. Here is what you need to know before emailing us:

• If you already have new prescription values, email [email protected] and let us know so we can provide you with an update link. 
• If you do not have new prescription values but you plan to get new ones before we ship, email [email protected] and ask us to put your lenses on hold. Once you get new values, just email us again and we’ll send you a link to update it, which will bump your lenses back into the manufacturing queue. 

Please read the above instructions carefully and remember them when you email us! Doing so will help ensure that we can get to everyone's support request in a timely manner!

Support

Reach us at [email protected] with any questions, and remember the following before emailing: 

• To change your shipping address go to vue.backerkit.com and enter the email address used with your pledge. 
• If you were charged for upgrades, it may have shown up on your statement as our company name "Vigo" instead of "Vue Glasses". Please do not dispute this with your credit card company. Please email us to verify the charge.
• The quickest way for us to help is by reaching out to [email protected]. 

We receive hundreds more emails than normal immediately after posting updates, so we apologize if it takes longer than expected for us to get back to you!

Until next time! 

With love, 

the Vue team

February Update—Lunar New Year
about 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 11:26:02 PM

Hey Backers! 

To everyone around the world who is celebrating, we wish you a Happy Lunar/Chinese New Year! As we’ve been discussing in recent updates, this is one of the world’s biggest holidays, particularly in China where our factories are located. We have been working to hit deadlines before the holiday, and now that it’s arrived we want to update you on where we’re at. Let’s dive in!

Lunar New Year 

Our factories have officially shut down and our vendors have gone on holiday. Before the holiday arrived, we had a little celebration at the office with gifts and our newest Vue prototypes! Check out the image below from just before the New Year.

Some folks on the team have traveled back to their hometowns to spend the holiday with their familes. Jia, our production manager, traveled to northern China and took his pair of Vue with him! Though not an official test, it’s a good chance to see how Vue fares in colder temperatures. It’s also a fun opportunity to celebrate the year of the dog by having an ice sculpture of a dog pose with a pair of Vue.

We’re happy to say that his pair of Vue has been performing great in the colder temperatures! We’ll perform controlled tests during production to determine Vue’s actual limitations.

Injection Molding: T0 Samples 

As we mentioned in our previous updates, we’ve been working hard with our factories to ensure that they could produce our T0 (pronounced t-zero) samples before the holiday. We’re happy to report that everything went according to plan! We went to our factories in the first week of February to watch the very first samples come out of the molds. We managed to get some great footage while watching the operators. It was awesome to see months of work culminate in a real production sample!

The inserts you see being removed from the frames are part of what helps shape the lens area of the glasses. The inserts must be placed into the mold each time a Vue frame is made in the machine. 

Recall from the previous updates just how long it takes to make a mold, and how many steps go into producing it. Though the finished samples that you see in the image above look simple, their creation was considerably complex! The other parts of the glasses were no different, including the arms.

We’re pleased to say that the legs came out beautifully! Overall, T0 went quite well. We know all of you remember the delays in producing the mold, especially that it took many back-and-forth discussions with our factories before we could begin cutting them. The reason that the work done during those delays was so important was that it helps prevent making mistakes. If the process was rushed, it is possible that our T0 samples could come out of the mold being warped or containing defects that rendered them unusable. If that was the case, it would have required a lengthy tooling revision that would have delayed things even more. 

That being said, there were still a few issues we noticed with these samples. We want to stress that these issues are minor and were completely to be expected. As mentioned in the previous update, you can’t predict everything that will happen when you model your parts on a computer, so real-world parts often come out of the mold different than you expected. 

One such issue that we’ll need to adjust has to do with the mold inserts. In the video below, you can see that the inserts from the Classic frames are easily removed.

Easy removal of the inserts enables the frames to be produced quickly and efficiently. If the inserts are difficult to remove, we risk both damaging the frames as well as increasing the time it takes to manufacture the product. Unfortunately for the Trendy frames, we ran into a slight problem.

It was so difficult to remove the inserts that some samples were permanently bent in the process. To fix this, we’ll have to make small adjustments to the mold. The samples that come from the adjusted mold will be called T1 (pronounced t-one). Any subsequent updates will be named sequentially (T2, T3, T4, etc). The good news is that the T1 changes will not take anywhere near as long as it took us to get the molds made in the first place. Our factories estimate that this will take less than a week to modify and test. However, because they are on holiday, this can’t happen until the first week of March. 

There were also a few other areas on the samples that needed adjustments, but these were minor and will likely only require adjusting parameters on the mold machines. Overall, there was nothing we found in our T0 samples that requires huge reworks or lengthy re-tooling processes. That is fantastic news, and is a testament to the importance of design reviews prior to tooling. Thanks to the quality of the T0 samples, we were able to assemble them into working prototypes!

Assembly Version 

We assembled units with the latest electronics, firmware, and mold samples and have been testing them. The latest versions are our best ones yet. It's been exciting to test them over the past couple of weeks, as we're finally seeing Vue come closer to a reality. 

Each time we assemble new units, we perform additional rounds of reliability testing. We’ve already covered hinge testing before, so instead we wanted to show you a different test. It’s called the Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) test, and involves literally zapping the glasses with up to 8,000 volts of electricity. The purpose of the test is to ensure that the product can survive shocks from static electricity.  

To perform the test, the operator takes a discharge gun and delivers a shock of electricity to various parts of the glasses. After each shock, we test to verify full functionality. Some of the discharges are so strong that you can hear and even see the discharge (like a tiny spark). Thankfully, Vue passed with flying colors! After testing various voltages in a variety of locations on the glasses, Vue remained fully functional.

Charging Case 

We recently tested the latest version of the charging case to confirm how the glasses fit inside. In the video below you can see a flashing LED on the bottom right of the case, which indicates that the glasses are charging. 

The new cases are looking good and appear to be functioning well. Note that this is just a prototype, so the colors aren't finalized. The small gaps you see on the edges will also not be present in the production units. We'll conduct additional tests before freezing the design prior to production.

Branding

Kickstarter is just the beginning of what we hope is a long journey. In light of this, we've been working on developing our brand so that we can establish Vue as a leader in this emerging space. In the coming months, we’ll re-launch our website, showcase our new logo, implement a new color scheme, and overhaul our design across all our social media channels. You'll also notice the new branding in our packaging and mobile apps, meaning that you'll be the first to see it. Below you can see some first impressions of the some of the branding work we've done. 

Packaging

Although a very brief part of your experience with the product over its lifetime, we want the unboxing experience to be thoughtful and exciting. After all, it will be the first thing from us that you finally get in your hands! As we get samples of our packaging in the office, we’ll show you how everything is looking. For now, check out the following mockup that's being worked on behind the scenes. 

The design will still evolve prior to shipping, and we'll be sure to share more with you as it does. 

Mobile App

The mobile app is an important part of Vue, as it gives you the ability to toggle on and off features, locate your missing frames, view your activity summaries, and more. We have been working on both the iOS and Android app and they are coming along nicely. We will be wrapping up final UI design shortly and will begin testing production builds of the app. Below are some drafts of the onboarding screens that you'll see when first pairing your Vue. 

The app is also something that we'll continue to improve throughout the lifetime of Vue, so your feedback as you use it will be critical! 

Timelines 

The reason we shifted our update to the middle of this month is to give ourselves time to sit down with our factories after the holidays in early March. We’ll be able to discuss remaining issues, get time estimates for fixes, and will talk about a realistic date for kicking off mass production. We will need to test our T1 samples before we can freeze the design and give production the green light.

While we still want to hit March to begin shipping units, we won’t know for sure until we sit down with our factories. The next update will come out in mid-March so that we can give everyone a clearer picture on schedules. 

Support 

Reach us at [email protected] with any questions, and remember the following before emailing: 

• If you were charged for upgrades, it may have shown up on your statement as our company name "Vigo" instead of "Vue Glasses". Please do not dispute this with your credit card company. Please email us to verify the charge. 
• To change your shipping address go to vue.backerkit.com and enter the email address used with your pledge. 
• The quickest way for us to help is by reaching out to [email protected]. 

We receive hundreds more emails than normal immediately after posting updates, so we apologize if it takes longer than expected for us to get back to you! 

Until next time!

With love, 

the Vue team 

January Update—Tooling
about 6 years ago – Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 07:03:08 PM

Hey backers! 

Welcome to the first update of 2018! It’s been an extremely busy month for us as we prepare for the Lunar New Year (also called Chinese New Year) in February. As mentioned previously, this is an important holiday in China meaning that a lot of work will slow down or completely stop. We’ve taken this holiday into account in our planning to minimize the impact it will have on our production. Let’s dive into our progress!

Tooling 

In December we wrapped up changes to our mold and moved forward with the tooling process. This means our factories have been cutting steel into the shape of the various parts of the glasses. We went to check in on their progress this month and it was exciting to see the molds finally taking form. Below is a picture of the mold for part of the Classic frames.

Note that the molds have yet to be polished, so the surface texture still looks a little rough. The whole process takes about a month, from being made in the CNC shop to being installed into injection molding machinery.

We realize that many backers have never seen the inside of such a facility, so we wanted to dive into a little detail about what goes on here. During each step of making a mold, various parts must be moved from machine to machine. They are often so heavy that factories must use ceiling-mounted crane systems to move them around safely.

After initial CNC work, the molds are then moved to the Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) stage. Many of the electronic products you use (likely the very one you are using to read this update!) contain parts made via EDM. Instead of using a spinning drill to carve away at the metal, the machine uses electrical current to slowly and precisely erode material away. In the video below you can see the Trendy frames undergoing the EDM process. 

We took a close-up video of another one of Vue’s molds during the EDM process so you can see exactly how it works. The copper rod that you see being inserted into the mold is called the “electrode” and is the part that produces the electrical current. As the electrical current contacts the mold, material is removed. If you look closely, you can see black particulate (i.e. eroded metal) and sparks coming out of the hole.

Part of what takes so long to make a mold is that some steps, like EDM, are quite slow. Another reason is that there are even more steps that have to be taken just to prepare for things like EDM. For example, each Vue component that requires a mold will also require many different electrode shapes depending on how much material has been removed from the steel.

Each electrode takes time to prepare—from procuring material, to designing dimensions, and ultimately machining them into the their precise shape. Next time you are holding your phone, laptop, or other electronic product, you can better visualize all the steps that went into making them!

The next step is for our factory to finish our molds and prepare our first samples (often referred to as “first shots” or “T0”). This is where they will actually inject the molds with molten plastic so that we can assemble and test those parts. At that stage, it is common to find mistakes or dimensions that need to be changed. This is because there are a lot of real-world variables that will cause differences between computer models and actual product samples (like temperature, humidity, purity of the plastic, etc).

Once we get our first samples, we’ll update everyone on the quality of the parts and any improvements that can be made. This will also be the first time that we have true factory-produced units, which will be a very exciting milestone for the project!

Electronics 

We’ve been working with our printed circuit board (PCB) factories to make sure that all our boards are prepared for mass production. The first step is to make the PCBs themselves. Ours are a mixture of rigid PCBs and FPCs, as seen below.

The PCBs must then undergo the SMT (surface mount technology) process. Recall from the November update that SMT machines are used to rapidly place electronic components on PCBs. This past month we’ve spent time at our SMT factories to oversee test runs and troubleshoot any issues.

In the November update, we showed you an SMT machine in process. At that time, we were observing our factory work on a different company’s board. In the video below, the machine is actually placing components for a real Vue PCB. If you look closely in the bottom right of the video, you can see 3 Vue PCBs undergoing SMT.

Once the PCBs finish the SMT process, they will have all the components placed and soldered onto the board in their proper places. We have over 100 electronic components on a board smaller than the size of a finger, including some components so small that they require a magnifying glass to see, so it's not an easy process! Check out the post-SMT boards below. 

Now these boards are ready for testing, validation, and ultimately assembly into your pair of Vue! We’ll continue working with our factories to ensure that everything is production ready. 

Bone Conduction 

We’ve received all our tens of thousands of bone conduction transducers from our supplier. Before moving to production, we performed an incoming quality inspection to ensure that every component works. We designed and developed a small test jig that can quickly test a random sample of components.

The device connects the transducer’s lines to an audio output and then amplifies the audio to ensure that it functions properly. We performed this test on a random sample of 1000 units. This helps us to identify the number of broken components per batch, which in turn helps us predict yield rate so that we can keep a proper inventory of components. We’ll also have this test performed during production to ensure the transducers are functioning properly after they are assembled.

Glasses Case

The glasses case has also been making progress. After testing early PCB designs, we’ve made some adjustments to the circuitry. Below is a new batch of the latest version of the PCB. This version fixes some bugs in the previous board design, ensuring that charging is stable, doesn't overcharge or undercharge the battery, and can protect the glasses from unexpected power surges.

These boards are off to undergo SMT, at which point we'll be able to assemble them into the case and ultimately test them with production glasses.

Timelines

We’re working hard to get as much done as we can before the Chinese New Year. This has involved frequent meetings with our factory representatives to make sure our project is prioritized and kept on schedule before they go on holiday. According to our most recent meeting, they plan to get first shots to us in the first week of February, allowing us to assemble and test our production units even while the factories are off.

How well things go with these tests will determine our ability to stay on schedule. As of now, we’re preparing everything from materials, components, to electronics for the ramp up to mass production. We’re still targeting March to be ready to ship. As always, we’ll keep you posted!

Support 

Reach us at [email protected] with any questions, and remember the following before emailing: 

• If you were charged for upgrades, it may have shown up on your statement as our company name "Vigo" instead of "Vue Glasses". Please do not dispute this with your credit card company. Please email us to verify the charge. 
• To change your shipping address go to vue.backerkit.com and enter the email address used with your order. 
• The quickest way for us to help is by reaching out to [email protected].

We receive hundreds more emails than normal immediately after posting updates, so we apologize if it takes longer than expected for us to get back to you!

Until next time! 

With love, 

the Vue team