JIN Announces First Eyewear in World That "Sees Yourself"

TOKYO, May 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- JIN Co., Ltd. will be releasing the JINS MEME in spring 2015, the world's first set of eyewear equipped with a 3point Electro Oculogy Sensor and based on the principle of "seeing yourself."

(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201405140598/ )

- Behind the development of JINS MEME

JINS has been pursuing various innovations aimed at overturning the conventional wisdom in the eyewear industry, based on the guiding principle to enrich the lives of people through their eyewear. Of particular note is the JINS PC (R), released in September 2011 and with total sales of more than 3.5 million units (as of February, 2014, including those with/without optical correction). It successfully created a new market for functional eyewear through an eyewear product with the value-added function of "protecting your eyes" that also brought in customers who did not need regular vision-correcting glasses. Now, in an effort to further expand the definition of innovation as conceived by JINS, we are attempting to shift the "seeing what's out there" (or "seeing the world in front of you") functional paradigm that traditionally has been the main role of eyewear. The eyes (seeing) account for 90% of the input that humans with their five senses receive. Focused on the massive a mount of information that vision generates, JINS has devoted four years of effort toward bringing to market a next-generation strategic product based on the concept of "seeing yourself." The JINS MEME can play a role in helping people today to lead lives that are safe, comfortable, and healthy through its capacity for visualizing and managing such crucial information as their state of exhaustion and drowsiness. This offering represents an effort by JINS to go beyond functional eyewear to create a new market for "sensing" eyewear.

- About Electro Oculogy Sensing Technology

Human's eye normally bears a positive electric charge on the cornea side and negative charge on the retina side, and the difference in these potential is called Electro Oculogy (EOG). The technology used to detect this difference when the eye moves is known as Electro Oculogy Sensing Technology.

As such expressions as "the eyes are as eloquent as the tongue" have suggested since ancient times, the movements of the eye - one of the outpost organs of the brain - occur in conjunction with the brain and signal a variety of information reflecting a person's inner workings. The continuous tracking of eye moments allows for the collection of "deep data," meaning in this context extremely deep and precise data obtained from deeper places in individual persons.

Eye tracking technology that detects the shifts in line of sight was preexisted. There are camera-type system, "invasive" type that uses electrodes to detect direct charges from the cornea, and EOG measurement type that uses patch. However, the situation was such that it was difficult to achieve the "continuous sensing" required for a wearable device, in terms of battery consumption and the great physical load it would impose on its wearer.

A joint industry-university technology development effort has succeeded in developing with the JINS MEME the world's first 3point Electro Oculogy Sensor (patent pending) that can also be used for eyewear. The product takes advantage of the unique characteristics of eyewear and achieves the real time measurement of shifts in line of sight in eight direction and blinking, from EOG detected from pads at the nose and between the eyebrows.

- Managing your condition in real time in different settings in conjunction with a smartphone app

The data acquired by JINS MEME in real time is displayed through a dedicated smartphone app reflecting one of three settings shown below.

1. Uses in the office
JINS MEME can deduce the wearer's levels of exhaustion and concentration when working in the office based on changes in their eye movements. The degree to which the wearer is tired is visualized with a "Mental Energy" (ME) exhaustion index developed exclusively by JINS. This allows wearer to constantly manage their exhaustion when they are in the office.

2. Uses when driving
Eye movements change when a person gets drowsy. The eyes of a driver exhibit certain characteristic movements the drowsier the driver gets. Joint research done with Associate professor Kano from Shibaura Institute of Technology resulted in the creation of a unique algorithm on the JINS MEME. We are working to create the ability to detect symptoms of driver drowsiness in advance and issue an alert.

3. Uses for fitness activities
Compared to other parts of the body, it is head movement that reflect the more important body movements such as those related to one's center of gravity and body axis. The JINS MEME can capture even the slightest head movements through the hexaxial (acceleration and angular velocity) sensor installed in the frame. The device is more accurate than wrist-band sensing devices and can provide step counts and calculate the amount of activity. Furthermore, using the dedicated app for the product enables the wearer to easily make practical use of the latest in physical fitness training theories, which put the focus on one's body axis and trunk, since the app can assess in real time the inclination of and changes to the wearer's body while running or walking.

About JIN Co., Ltd.

Tokyo headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
CEO: Hitoshi Tanaka

Contact:
Satomi Watanabe/Rina Kanno/Masato Kimura/Shiho Ikegawa
PR Div.
JIN Co., Ltd.
Tel: +81-3-3479-4848
Fax: +81-3-3479-4849
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE JIN Co., Ltd.