CES 2014: Vergence combines wearable tech and drones

LAS VEGAS - Wearable technology and drones are two of the hottest trends at this year's CES conference and Vergence Labs has combined them both in an app that highlights the potential capabilities of the start-up's smart Epiphany glasses.

Vergence, run by Jon Rodriguez, Erick Miller, Peter Brook and David Meisenholder, sells glasses with a wide-angle camera in one corner and a powerful little computer to record, process and share video. The gadgets sell for $299 to $499, depending on the storage.

This summer, Rodriguez and his co-founders started developing an app for the glasses that monitors the wearer's hand motions and uses that information to control a Parrot AR drone through a Wi-Fi connection.

With the drone on the ground, the Epiphany wearer simply raises their hand and the vehicle rises into the air. A gesture to the left or right moves the drone on those directions, and so on. A video posted recently by Vergence shows the Epiphany glasses and the drone app in action.

"It's a proof of concept for gesture control," said Miller in an interview with USA TODAY at the CES conference in Las Vegas. "As a child, I used to imagine controlling objects with my mind. We're starting to make this a reality."

Miller also sees the eyewear and app as an early example of a new way for humans to interact with computers.

"This is far-out stuff - to be able to control robots, rather than the other way round," he added.

New, practical uses are also possible, such as handling hazardous materials safely, or even lifting heavy objects to save people involved in car crashes or disasters, Miller explained.

Some notable tech investors share Miller's vision. Venture capitalist Tim Draper, and his son Adam, have backed Vergence. Charlie Cheever, the Quora co-founder who built Facebook Connect, and Joel Yarmon, former technology director for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, also invested.

Vergence got started in 2011 and raised about $70,000 on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo. The firm has not disclosed how much it raised from Draper and the other tech investors, however, Meisenholder said it was "considerably more" than the amount garnered from Indiegogo.

Vergence has developed other apps for its Epiphany glasses, beyond the drone controller. One recognizes people's faces and reminds the wearer of their name if they are friends on Facebook. Another uses gesture control again, this time to control music volume and tracks via Bluetooth speakers.

The start-up's latest app will take video and stream it to Facebook in real time. This one is still being developed, Miller said.