Julbo
| Julbo | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Industry | Eyewear, Augmented Reality |
| Founded | 1888 |
| Founder | Jules Baud |
| Headquarters | Longchaumois, Jura, France |
| Notable Personnel | Christophe Beaud (CEO) |
| Products | Sunglasses, mountaineering eyewear, snow goggles, ActiveLook smart glasses |
| Parent | Peugeot Freres Industrie |
| Website | https://www.julbo.com |
Julbo is a French eyewear company that designs sunglasses, mountaineering glasses, and snow goggles for outdoor sports. It was founded in 1888 in Morez, in the Jura region of France, by Jules Baud, who created protective glasses for the crystal hunters of the nearby Alps.[1][2] The company is best known for high-altitude and high-performance eyewear, but it is also relevant to Augmented Reality as the first brand to ship glasses built on the ActiveLook heads-up display technology, the EVAD-1, in 2020.[3][4]
History
Julbo began in 1888 when Jules Baud, working in Morez in the heart of the French eyewear industry, was asked by crystal hunters from the Chamonix area to make eye protection that could stand up to glare and ultraviolet light at altitude. His answer was the first "Cristalliers" glasses.[1][2] The company stayed focused on mountain and snow eyewear over the following decades. In the 1950s it introduced the Vermont glacier sunglasses, a leather-and-metal design that became closely tied to the golden age of alpine climbing and remains a collector's item.[2][5] During the 1980s its glacier models became fixtures at ski resorts, and later additions included a children's range and a prescription program.[2]
The business remained family-run for several generations. The founder's surname appears as both "Baud" on Julbo's own legacy materials and "Beaud" for the later family members who led the firm, including Christophe Beaud.[1][6] In July 2022 the Beaud family signed an agreement selling a majority of the company's capital to Peugeot Freres Industrie, the industrial arm of the Peugeot family, while Christophe Beaud remained a shareholder and continued to lead the company. At the time of the deal Julbo was based in Longchaumois in the Jura and employed more than 200 people, with a large share of its revenue coming from exports.[6][7]
Smart eyewear and augmented reality
Julbo's connection to the VR and AR field comes through ActiveLook, a heads-up display technology developed by the French company Microoled, which makes high-brightness, low-power OLED microdisplays. Julbo was the first brand to put ActiveLook into a consumer sports product.[3][8] By Julbo's own description, ActiveLook bundles "electronics, firmware, lenses, optics, and a specific application OLED microdisplay" designed by Microoled to give a heads-up display with low weight, small size, and low power draw.[8]
The product that introduced this approach was the Julbo EVAD-1, announced at the SILMO optical trade fair in Paris in 2019, with preorders opening in November 2019 and shipping beginning in February 2020 at a price of 499 euros.[3][9] Aimed at cyclists and runners, the EVAD-1 weighs about 35 grams and uses Julbo's REACTIV Photochromic 1-3 lenses, which darken automatically in response to light and ultraviolet levels.[10] The monocular display shows real-time metrics such as time, distance, elevation gain, speed, average speed, pace, and heart rate, drawn from sensors paired over Bluetooth to the ActiveLook smartphone app; the wearer cycles through screens with a hand gesture over the temple, and Julbo cites battery life of up to 12 hours.[10][9] The frames were produced with 3D printing in partnership with the Belgian firm Materialise, which Microoled and Julbo chose over injection molding for the small, complex shapes the electronics required.[9]
The EVAD-1 was the first of several ActiveLook-powered sports glasses, and Julbo's adoption helped establish the platform among other eyewear makers targeting cycling and running.[10][3]
Products
The table below lists Julbo's smart-eyewear product relevant to augmented reality; the company's broader catalog of conventional sunglasses and goggles is outside the scope of this article.
| Product | Year | Type | Notable specs and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julbo EVAD-1 | 2019 (announced), 2020 (shipped) | ActiveLook smart sports glasses | First ActiveLook product; monocular OLED heads-up display by Microoled; ~35 g; REACTIV Photochromic 1-3 lenses; Bluetooth metrics for cycling and running; up to 12 h battery; 499 euros[3][10][9] |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Jules Baud / the first cristallier glasses". https://www.julbo.com/en_wo/legacy.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Our Story - Eyewear Innovation Since 1888". https://julbo.us/pages/heritage.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Julbo announced ActiveLook glasses at Silmo". https://www.activelook.net/news-blog/julbo-announced-activelook-glasses-at-silmo.
- ↑ "EVAD-1 by Julbo, the first ActiveLook glasses, are now available for sale". July 29, 2021. https://www.activelook.net/news-blog/evad-1-by-julbo-the-first-activelook-glasses-are-now-available-for-sale.
- ↑ "Julbo Celebrates 125 Years With Vermont Classic Sunglasses". https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/water-sports-gear/julbo-celebrates-125-years-vermont-classic-sunglasses/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Jura: le lunetier Julbo racheté par Peugeot Frères Industries". https://www.swissinfo.ch/fre/jura--le-lunetier-julbo-rachet%C3%A9-par-peugeot-fr%C3%A8res-industries/47738814.
- ↑ "La famille Peugeot fait l'acquisition de Julbo". https://frequenceoptic.fr/actualites/la-famille-peugeot-fait-l-acquisition-de-julbo.html.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "What is ActiveLook, the embedded technology in our EVAD-1 connected glasses?". https://www.julbo.com/en_wo/faq/evad-1-connected-glasses/what-is-activelook-the-embedded-technology-in-our-evad-1-connected-glasses.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Sports Smart Eyewear: Interview with Microoled". https://www.materialise.com/en/inspiration/articles/sports-smart-eyewear-microoled.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Three new super lightweight ActiveLook-powered smart sunglasses for cyclists". https://bikerumor.com/activelook-next-augmented-could-realize-the-lightest-smart-cycling-glasses-yet/.