North, the YC-backed company that’s raised 120 million in venture funding to develop smart-glasses, opened their Toronto showroom today. I’ve been wanting a pair for years, so I booked one of the first fittings. Here are some photos.

Walking in, my main concern was: do the glasses look OK?

In my opinion, they look fantastic — and I’m not used to seeing glasses on my face. I texted this photo to my much more fashionable friend, and she confirmed. So that’s a go.

One of my friends interned at North two years ago, so I’d already been told that the Focals have good displays. It was nice to confirm that personally — the display is bright and clear. A bit small, but very usable.

The software is intuitive and runs smoothly. It’s fast, and I can see myself comfortably using it in daily life. This is unlike Google Glasses, which take seconds to send a message, and sometimes end up sending to the wrong person. In general, the demo, which included responding to a message, getting directions and asking Alexa a question, went off perfectly.

The voice recognition is also on-point — for example, it correctly recognized “Toronto Union Station”. This is very important, since one of the Focal’s main features is that you can send messages by dictating them.

The really brilliant part of the design is the joystick ring. It means you can use your glasses without making it obvious. Maybe we could eventually get morse code support? Then you could type essays while staring out a train window.

I’m mostly just really hoping North eventually releases a Development Kit. I can already see all the opportunities. For example, Focals could make the *ultimate* speech-making aid. To the audience, it looks like you’ve perfectly memorized your speech — but you’re actually just reading it from your glasses.

Anyways, I promised photos. Here’s the front area of the showroom:

A bit further down is an area with a bunch of mirrors, and sofas on the sides.

In the very back, there are four fitting rooms.

Each of the black holes has a camera. The fitting process is fairly simple: tie your hair back, sit on the white chair and shift your head until the video on the front screen lines up. A few seconds later, they have a surprisingly accurate 3D model of your face.

I really wish I could have walked out with my pair today, but the glasses are custom fit, and the first set won’t be finished till early December. Still, the glasses work even better than I’d expected, look awesome, and I’m really looking forward to receiving my pair.