Description
Vufine+ is a high definition, wearable display that seamlessly integrates with your technology, truly unlocking its full potential. Whether for your smartphone, laptop or drone, Vufine+ connects via HDMI cable to provide a second monitor or mirrored display. Use Vufine+ anywhere you need an extra screen without taking your eyes off the world around you.
From the manufacturer
Use Cases:
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Drones:Unlike standard goggle set-ups, Vufine lets you maintain situational awareness and direct line of sight while flying. Vufine stands out as a simple, safety-conscious monocular FPV system. |
Cinema:Whether for an action camera or professional rig, Vufine+ is perfect for monitoring live camera footage. For gimbal operators, it’s great for maintaining situational awareness on location. |
And More:Vufine’s sleek, pocketable size is ideal for use at work or on the go, making it easy to watch your favorite videos or catch up on work more privately. |
The Screen:
Vufine+ utilizes an LCOS panel which provides a bright, crisp virtual display that appears as a 4″ display approximately 12″ from your eye.
Vufine+ offers 3 different display modes to allow users to optimize the display no matter what device they are connecting. These modes can be cycled through by clicking the power button.
Attachment and Connectivity:
Vufine+ attaches to glasses via magnetic docking station to allow you to position it above, below, or directly in your line of sight.
Vufine+ connects to most major smartphones, drones, laptops, and cameras. This connection is achieved via the included HDMI cable and, depending on the device, appropriate HDMI adapter.
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Crisp, high definition display that allows users to easily watch videos or read text. |
Vufine connects to devices only through an HDMI cable. No wireless capabilities. Vufine only accepts a 720p signal. |
Internal battery for a 90 minute runtime. Battery can be charged while Vufine is in use for extended duration. |
Virtual screen appears as a 4 inch display approximately 12 inches from the user’s eye. |
Goro Kosaka
CEO & Founder
Describe your products in 3 words.
Wearable Displays, Simplified.
How did you come up with the idea for this product?
We started in augmented reality at the height of Google Glass’s popularity. We feared that Google Glass was too complicated and expensive, so we set out to make a simple and affordable alternative. We created Vufine to be just that – a device that is easy to use, and serves as a wearable viewfinder for all of your favorite technology at an affordable price.
What makes your product special?
With Vufine, we wanted to do something as simple as possible to help users take advantage of their favorite devices hands-free. By paring Vufine down to a single, primary function – the display – we were able to create an accessible device for our users to test across a wide range of use cases.
What has been the best part of your experience?
Getting our start on Kickstarter in an emerging market has given us the unique opportunity to talk directly with thousands of backers about their actual needs, expectations and experience with Vufine. Our backers and early supporters have been fantastic!
T Stanley –
No competition without paying doubleThis is a very unique product and it has plenty of faults. But it’s closest competition is over double the cost.People are using this for a few different reasons and you’ll need to consider what yours are. But I wanted to be able to walk and watch training videos at same time.I haven’t used the product for that yet but I have used it a few hours and here’s my thoughts.The seller really needs to be clear what the ports are on the unit. It does not have any wireless capability. It includes all cables but if you replace them, be aware no full size ports are on the device itself. None of the technology is current so connecting to anything new is going to require adapters. The full size end of the cables are hdmi and standard usb. The USB port is only for charging or powering the device. You can adapt this to whatever you are connecting to or replace the cable. To replace for a new iPhone you’ll need a usb c to mini hdmi cable. The thinner the cable is the happier you’ll be since it dangles from your face. The usb is the micro usb I think. It’s the standard one on older android devices.I didn’t test battery life but if you need more than 90 minutes, you can power the device with the usb cable while using it.Once connected, the video is very clear. The manufacturer claims you get about a 4” view. In either case the view through the optics appear larger than the device physically is. I can read text on YouTube videos.Getting the frame into your field of view is not easy. You need to be looking directly into the lens but most of the attachments leave the view a little diagonal. That causes the image to go left under the lens and it cuts off the left side of the display. There is no adjustment for this besides physically moving the device. If using glasses, they hold the device further right and the problem is worse.Most likely people not experiencing this are not wearing glasses or have thinner heads. Also if your prescription magnifies, the problem is exaggerated. I am farsighted and the magnification was driving me crazy trying to adjust. Oddly enough, I used the included glasses and I could see the image clearly even though the gadget was inches from my eyes. The optics have you looking far past the physical Device and somehow it works and I could see without prescription glasses.I didn’t have trouble attaching the unit to my glasses but adjusting was tedious and I couldn’t get the whole frame in my view. Be aware that pushing the bottom half of the power button will switch the view. One will make the view smaller which will help bring things into view if needed.The best option is not to use glasses at all but that requires parts not included or building your own.Over all I can do the solution with included glasses okay. I watched a few YouTube videos and I think it will work for me. The attachment that adjusts least worked best for me too.This has lots of room for improvement but there is no competition that I am willing to pay for. For that, this gets a 4 star from me.
Nicholas –
It works well if you just need video. Audio, however, is a problem.If you are just using this for just video, it is outstanding. It works best out of the sunlight, and I was surprised about how well the video looks.I bought this to use with my iPhone and had the approved Apple Lightning Digital AV Adapter listed on their website. The issue is that with the adapter, the iPhone audio wants to go through the HDMI, and since there isn’t a headphone jack on the Vufine, you can’t hear audio unless you use Bluetooth headphones synced with your iPhone. That would be fine, but in practice, it is not fine.I tried two different iPhones: an iPhone SE (8) on iOS 15.3.1 and an iPhone 12 on iOS 15.3. Nearly 80% of the time, it’s a real hassle to switch the audio from HDMI to Bluetooth. It either doesn’t want to switch, or when it does switch, and you can finally hear the audio in your Bluetooth, the video output freezes while the sound continue to play. This mostly happens on any video you use with mobile Safari (like YouTube.com) or when using the VLC app. I think this is mostly an Apple issue and not an issue with the Vufine, but since it shows up on their compatibility list, that’s why I bought it and this issue is why I am returning it.Also, and this is somewhat unrelated, but there are many apps out there, like Peacock, that do not allow HDMI output using this lightning to HDMI adapter. So if you are trying to buy this to watch the Peacock streaming, it will not work. This is a NBC issue and not a Vufine problem, but I should have checked all the apps for HDMI output ahead of time. There are apparently many that do not work, so my advice would be to buy the HDMI adapter, connect it to a monitor, and test your apps before you buy this.In closing I really wish this had a headphone jack on it, because that would resolve my issue, though it would need an audio amp and that would likely eat into the battery life.
CJ –
Not sure why the reviews are mixed; this thing is amazing!I’ve got decades of experience with VR, drones, and various head-mounted displays and the Vufine+ is a superb low-cost option for a monocular display that allows you to still maintain LOS to your drone — an FAA requirement that’s frequently broken by scofflaws.But it’s such a nice and comfortable HMD that I want to use it for so much more. I saw another reviewer claiming it’s wonderful as a camera monitor and were they ever right! My Sony alpha cameras all worked flawlessly (after setting them to ‘auto’ resolution on the HDMI output) and it makes getting those crazy low angle kitten photos so much easier — especially now that I’m older and can’t get physically low as easily anymore.It’s even better than that; I want to wear it all the time so I can watch TV while I do the chores! I don’t care if I look like a Borg reject — if it means I can do the dishes and vacuum the house while I’m watching my soaps!I will mention that the mount the Vufine+ comes with worked quite nicely for my test run, and I left it on my glasses (which are prescription frames that just happen to be identical to the ones in the box) — then about an hour later, the rubber that holds the mount broke, spontaneously — not even being touched, or worn, or looked at! So I sent a quick e-mail to the address on the Vufine website. I told them the mount broke almost immediately, and could I get a replacement and also maybe buy a spare or two in case the replacement also turns out to be super fragile. They wrote me back in *minutes* saying it was no problem, they’d already shipped out a replacement and a spare, gratis, and included a tracking number. Very professional!Other than the mount breaking, I don’t have any real complaints. There’s plenty of things that could be a little nicer, but it’s an all-around good design and the low ($200 at the time of writing) price elevates it to great. I’m even tempted to buy a second one just so I’ll have a spare if they someday stop being produced or go out of business. It’s that good!One last thing that’s not really spelled out anywhere that I could find – although it claims there is a 90-minute battery life, it works just fine plugged in so if you don’t mind another cable there’s no reason you can’t wear it all day and watch your soaps too.
C. Rosenbaum –
As a starter HUD for experimentation, this delivers, but it needs some updatesI got this to help with some of my training classes and to experiment with. Having used it, the pros outweigh the cons, although it could use some improvement.Let me get the cons out of the way first…the glasses frame adapter isn’t universal, and won’t allow the display to come into your visual field (I use some prescription glasses with filter coating to reduce the blue from LCD monitors). Also, you will need at least one cable plugged in at all times, maybe 2 if you want to keep it running for longer than 90 minutes. Also, it needs some way to change the display brightness, because using it in a darker room does cause some eyestrain. Hence, why I dinged it a star.Now, the pros. With or without glasses, this device shows its benefits. I would recommend getting a headband/ball cap adapter. It seems a little flimsy, but using an eye-screen HUD takes some getting used to. (You need to relax your eyes, look at a point in front of you, and then tweak the screen so you can see it in your field of vision. As your brain puts it together, you’ll see a transparent screen in your field of view. It’s not something to fill or obstruct your vision, it’s like having part of the HUD in a video game…you can glance at it.)I’ve tested it when doing some DIY projects, putting necessary info on my iPhone and passing the display data through a lightning to HDMI adapter. Having important info at hand helped me keep from miswiring something.
Jack –
This is for tinkerers. Decent screen, but very uncomfortable without modification.If you thought you were going to be editing spreadsheets or playing videogames with this thing, you have set your expectations way too high. The screen is incredible for the price, but it’s not quite to that point yet. Watching an episode of a cartoon? Definitely doable. HOWEVER: There are some very obvious oversights with this product. The screen is fine. But judging by the glasses, I have serious doubts they even tested it. The weight on your right ear is absolutely unacceptable. No one will be wearing this for more than 30 minutes. It’s quite mind-boggling how good the screen is, yet how terrible the glasses and mount are. An otherwise good product made uncomfortable by carelessness.I will reiterate: This thing is ungodly uncomfortable. The ends of the glasses don’t even curve, so they try to slide off your face when looking down. The left side of the included glasses doesn’t need to even exist, especially because it does absolutely nothing to balance the right side of the glasses. The mount is extremely flaky and the slightest wiggle of the HDMI cable will push it out of your viewing angle. I foresee it breaking in the near future.The outer display glass is circular, but inside of it you’re seeing at a rectangular resolution. No idea why they even bothered making it circular when you’re going to be looking at a rectangle inside of it. By the way. NO AUDIO output? Now I have to run a third accessory into the mix. Such wasted potential. The display itself is good. Everything else was an obvious after thought. Tinkerers will love it if they’re aware of these quirks. Buy for the display. Toss all the other trash and find a custom mounting solution.
FuzNuz Horse Equipment –
Use the magnifier feature from Windows 10 to make this work.On it’s own it’s an alright display, it tends to have really tiny text that may make using it normally for long periods a bit of a pain if your vision is not the greatest. I solved this by using the magnifier to make the screen 200% zoomed in, it’s a little bit of a pain to have to move around the screen in little subsections, but you can then clearly read all the text and work all the controls.I’m using this with a mini pc stick (Recommend getting the 8gb ram fanless one as then you can stick it in a waterproof bag but still leave it running) to make a super lightweight computer for backpacking that runs entirely off solar power. This monitor works very will with that because it has enormously less power draw than other solutions and is super lightweight. You can also easily slip it into a plastic bag to make it rainproof.For regular life I find it just a tad frustrating to use for a couple of reasons. For one, it only comes in a right eye version, and I prefer it on my left eye, so after you adjust the windows 10 settings to invert the screen, the cords now poke upwards instead of hanging down neatly. The internal battery life is quite short, about an hour or so for me, so you will want to keep it plugged into power while using it. I use an external battery bank stuffed in a pocket for this.Despite it’s limitations, it is an excellent piece of gear for adapting to the new work from anywhere world. Highly recommend for it’s special camping and outdoors usage, not a terribly pleasant experience for a casual office user.
Michael Angel –
Useless without thick framed glassesIt includes a few rubber-stretched clamps to hold onto thick framed glasses and for any reasonable use you’d also want to have it plugged in for power; 85 minutes isn’t long enough to even watch a full movie on a charge, plus you’re having to wire into HDMI anyways; there was almost zero thought on actually putting this display on comfortably or to own this for any extended period of time.The stretch required on the rubber means it’ll fail after a few dozen addition/removals, and is definitely not something you’d want to keep on thin frames even with the poor basic metal adapter. There are niche uses for this but unfortunately it’s very hard to keep it lined up perfectly with your eye to see more than about 40% of the screen. It takes in a 720p signal but downscales it to fit into a 960×540 panel, and by default starts in a zoomed in mode and you have to click the power button to switch between zoom, scale to fit, and fill modes. Pressing the power button feels awkward, more force than should be necessary for a toggle button, and causes you to shift the display out of focus because of the force needed.6/10 for display tech2/10 on wearable design.The only real benefit I can see here is low cost of entry for a monocle wearable display, but despite having fill/scale view modes it can’t be worn on the left eye without the source device doing a 180 degree rotation. Seriously, this was such a poorly thought out device for user experience it’s kind of baffling.
jon –
Also buy a hdmi female to female connector.The micro HDMI to HDMI cable is male so get an adapter so you can plug in a cable rather than having to plug directly into the device.I have had this for only a few minutes and was impressed enough to comment. The image (though small) is crisp! My super thin-framed glasses can hold it up to where a little bit of text is legible it is all in focus but due to size I zoomed in so it’s easier to read.Holding my phone (land scape) at arms length looks almost exactly the same size as the little screen.(Average height adult length arms, and phone is big enough to make my wrists hurt if held for an entire movie.)Going to use a cheap PC and a USB battery pack to make a “laptop” that is usable while standing.Fwiw connected to my Chromebook effortlessly just need the text to not be scaled to the smallest setting lol.It is not “stylish” or unnoticeable, but it is professional enough that I will use it every time I fly and don’t anticipate much heckling.It is way better than the novelty I expected. I will eventually buy a higher resolution one hopefully with a “larger” screen if they make one. (Size is fine for 720p but higher resolution would just make text appear smaller, so if it could go as high as 1080p it would need to occupy more of my field of vision to benefit from the extra pixels)
Amazon Customer –
Could be Perfect for increasing Drone Situational Awareness (DJI Inspire 2)This wearable display is perfect for increasing situational awareness when flying a Drone. I fly an Inspire 2 Drone which has the Camera for capturing footage, and a FPV camera that always points in the direction of the nose. In order to maintain VLOS, you are supposed to keep your eye on the drone minimizing looking away to check the display as much as possible. I use the Cendence Controller in order to quickly make camera adjustments by feel, rather than hunting around the App. In order to see FPV view you have to overlay it on top of Camera view in the app. This approach results in you taking your eye off VLOS longer than I feel is necessary to check camera, and FPV of the Drone. The display is very crisp and all you have to do is consciously focus on the screen. You can still see your Drone peripherally when you do this, although it takes a little getting used to.With the Vufine Wearable display I can see FPV of what the drone sees in front of it while still looking at the Drone in flight. I am still experimenting with if I want the Wearable display to do FPV or Camera view. It will matter if I fly solo or with a second operator.With the Cendence remote control, you configure the HDMI out for 720p. And you then select what will appear on the HDMI output, onto your Vufine.Update*** October 2018Took my rating down to 3 stars because of this issueAn annoying problem I am dealing with, is on bright days i am picking up a glare from either the provided clear glasses or a pair of driving glasses the Vufine is attached to, which renders the display useless. Going to look into some type of eyecup solution. Will update when I have some experiments completed
Shannon Underwood –
It’s useful, but not for the reason you may think…Alrighty, I have played around with the Vufine for a couple days now and have some mixed feelings.For one, it is useless if you intend to use it with thin-framed glasses. Even with the included ‘brace’ for thin frames, the Vufine is just too heavy. The mount was constantly slipping downward. To make matters worse, it was extremely uncomfortable and you will constantly be adjusting your glasses due to the added weight. I have a hat mount on the way which should take care of that issue, still a bummer that it doesn’t work right out of the box though.So, that’s a bummer. But onto the good stuff, which may surprise you..With the included dorky glasses, the mount works quite well! It does not slip off your face like normal script glasses will (at least in my case). It’s pretty neat not having to look down at a field monitor and instead have a small screen constantly in your FOV. Takes some getting used to, but it will certainly come in handy when I’m shooting video with my Ronin.The BEST use I’ve found so far with the Vufine surprised me though.. For taking photos!! Holy sh*t if you find yourself trying to take photos in unusual positions and don’t want to use the back LCD screen, this is literally like a small electronic viewfinder constantly on your eye. Honestly it’s so good with my A7Riii, that I can go out shooting and not even have to rely on the EVF or back LCD screen.So there you have it…. Sucks for prescription glasses, is okay for video shoots, and kicks ass for taking photos in difficult positions/locations. It’s overpriced in my opinion, but I’ll be keeping mine because of the usefulness I stated above.