After the Smartphone: The Race for the Next Big Thing

Investors including Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Saudi Arabia's main wealth fund have poured money into this much-hyped maker of augmented-reality glasses. The bugeye-like glasses with tinted lenses--released only to software developers thus far--overlay virtual reality-like images onto the real world, designed for use by gamers and neurosurgeons alike. Early reviews have been lukewarm. Priced at $999, Focals by North represents a less flashy but potentially more practical version of futuristic glasses. The glasses, released last fall, can display directions, texts and other simple displays by beaming hologram-like images into eyes.