The Bose Frames audio glasses are a curiosity that caught my attention a few weeks ago. They're sleek sunglasses with the kind of high-quality sound one would expect from a Bose product, but what takes them over the edge from a fun novelty to a meaningful piece sophisticated hardware is a feature called "Bose AR." These audio glasses have built-in mechanisms for tracking movement and gestures, meaning Bose Frames aren't just a cool way to listen to music, they're also a revolutionary, one-of-a-kind platform for audio games.
Bose certainly wouldn't be considered a gaming brand, but they immediately recognized the potential they had with the Bose Frames and began hosting game jams to introduce developers to the platform. It's a relatively young category, without a doubt, but even just based on what's available today, the Bose Frames already demonstrate enormous potential for high-quality, unique experiences that push the boundaries of gaming to a whole new level.
The Hardware
Bose Frames come in two styles, an angular Alto and a rounded Rondo, that, for the most part, look like any other pair of unassuming sunglasses. The slightly chunkier arms house the speakers, accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. These instruments provide not only an incredible listening experience, but also all of the tools needed to create interactive games.
The use-cases for the glasses, aside from gaming, are immediately apparent. They offer a way to listen to music without shutting you off from your surroundings the way earbuds and headphones do. Granted, there is some amount of sound leak, especially in a quiet room, but I found that with even just a little bit of ambiance, I could hear my music through them clearly and no one else could even tell they were on. These would be great for hanging out at the beach, jogging (if you have a problem with headphones falling out like I do), and honestly, just day-to-day outdoor activities. They're an awesome, lightweight alternative to earbuds and headphones, while functioning a bit like earbuds with ambient noise passthrough.
They've got just one small button on the right side, used to power them up, sync them (through Bluetooth), and to interact with some games (which really makes you feel like Cyclops from the X-Men when you press it). They can also be powered off by flipping them upside down. They hold an all-day charge, but require a proprietary charger to charge up, which I don't love.
Overall, even if you aren't interested in AR and gaming, the Bose Frames are just an awesome alternative to earbuds that are definitely worth trying. For yard work, beach time, exercising, or anything outdoors, I'm going to choose these every single time.
Ok, Let's Talk Games
Bose's secret weapon for AR games on the Frames is the Unity engine. Unity is a pretty universal engine that every developer knows how to work with, and makes it unbelievably easy to drop the Bose AR SDK developer kit into.
The SDK has been available on iOS for a while, and recently, Android developers have been granted access to it through game jams hosted by Bose. The response has already been huge. There are more than a dozen games already available on Android and even more on iOS.
The games available, on Android at least, are more or less proof of the hardware's potential, more than they are "killer apps." They range from "look in the direction of the sound" to "jump when you hear the cannonball flying at you." The directional audio is effective and it's exciting to think about the experiences we will inevitably get down the line, but so far, I'm not particularly excited about what I played. I'm told the games available on iOS may be more complete, but I'm not able to test those.
Bose AR For Everyone
Beyond games, there are also AR experiences that are particularly exciting. For golfers, there's Golfshot, a virtual caddy that is already programmed with over 45,000 golf courses worldwide. There's also Pear, a fitness training AR app that provides interactive coaching from world-renowned athletes.
Bose AR isn't just in the Bose Frames, either. Both the noise-canceling 700s and the QC35 2s have the same functionality as the Bose Frames, so you can try out these games and apps with over the ear headphones as well.
Between Bose AR, Google Stadia, and Apple Arcade, more and more major brands are realizing the potential they have to bring gaming to new audiences and categories. As someone particularly invested in audio gaming as an accessibility option for disabled gamers, I'm absolutely smitten by Bose Frames and the platform Bose has created for innovative new experiences with Bose AR. It's young, but I expect big things from Bose AR in the not-so-distant future.
Bose Frames come in two styles, Alto and Rondo, available on their website for $199. A pair of Bose Frames were provided to TheGamer for this review.