Vancouver’s Recon Instruments Acquired by Intel

Vancouver smart eyewear specialists Recon Instruments has been acquired by Intel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rumours pegged the deal at $175 million, a figure which a spokeswoman from Intel told Business in Vancouver is not accurate.

Intel previously invested $4 million in Recon Instruments in 2013 through its Intel Capital fund.

“Going forward, we’ll continue leading the smart eyewear category for sports, and we’ll be able to bring our technology and innovation to completely new markets and use cases where activity-specific information, delivered instantly, can change the game,” wrote Recon CEO Dan Eisenhardt. “The team and I couldn’t be more enthusiastic.”

Recon Instruments, in developing a heads-up piece of sports eyewear that displays data directly to an athletes eye’s without impeding their ability to move, plays well into Intel’s overall interest in the wearable technology market and the Internet of Things.

Intel has been busy snapping up companies recently, such as Montreal’s PasswordBox, which dovetail with its overall interest in IoT and user authentication.

Although Recon Instruments began producing eyewear aimed at athletic consumers, the company has lately focused on developing virtual reality eyewear applications for enterprise.

In March, Recon Instruments began integrating SAP’s AR app suite into its eyewear for use in applications such as Warehouse Picker or Service Technician, which display crucial information to workers in a variety of settings.

Founded in 2008 by Eisenhardt and Chief Technology Officer Hamid Abdollahi, Recon Instruments will remain headquartered in Vancouver’s Yaletown with its team intact. Having access to Intel’s technology know-how and resources, however, will allow the company to scale and to develop new applications for its eyewear.