Augmented Reality Ski Googles: What Happened to Oakley Airwave?

The launch of augmented reality ski googles in 2012 came with much razzmatazz. But did the ground breaking technology change skiing and snowboarding holidays forever? And what happened to Oakley Airwave goggles?

Here is the article we wrote in 2012 when Oakley launched the Airwave in 2012 – I make some interesting predictions. At the bottom is what actually happened…

Launch of Augmented Reality Ski Googles

It was only a few years ago that plans for goggles displaying your riding stats only existed in drunken après conversations during ski holidays. But with the new Oakley Airwave goggles, it’s a reality and so much more.

We’ve now got a goggle that integrates GPS, Bluetooth and a truck load of sensors. Not only does it display riding stats but links with your phone and helps you to find your friends.

Somewhere along the road (or should I say piste) goggle design just got really clever. And something tells me skiing and snowboarding will never be the same again…

So what happened? Oakley, already a dominant force in innovative goggle design has lifted the bar again with augmented reality ski googles.

What are Oakley Airwave Goggles?

So how does it work? The Oakley Airwave goggle has a miniature prism lens on the inside. This displays information as if you are looking at a 14 inch screen that is 5 feet away. So there is no need to refocus your eye from the important job of skiing or snowboarding.

By stats we are not just talking about speed and distance. The Oakley Airwave also tells you your altitude and vertical descent, as well as displaying airtime and jump distance.

And if you think this is clever, Bluetooth connection to your smartphone means can view incoming calls and messages. On top of that riders can control their music via a wrist-mounted remote.

Finally there’s also a tracking function. Combining GPS and mobile app, the goggles can track your friends on the slopes. These augmented reality ski googles will point the direction of your friends and say how far away they are. So no more losing John (who does not know his left from right).

Changing Skiing and Snowboarding Forever

This outrageous technology is sure to change skiing and snowboarding are experienced. This augmented reality technology is likely to find its way into other sports before long too. I am sure by now you are ready to buy a pair, but they do not come cheap with a RRP of £500.

My prediction is that one day almost everyone will have a pair. And by then, the goggles will also be recording everything in HD and monitoring your bio rhythms. On top of that you’ll have directions and even a coaching element that displays a ‘ghost’ rider as a for you to follow to improve your riding.

What Happened to Oakley Airwave Goggles?

So I’d need a pretty big pair of googles to avoid egg on my face over my claim we’ll all be using them. But then not as much as Oakley who discontinued them in 2018. And this was after launching the 1.5 version in 2016.

The Airwaves had good reviews, people on the whole liked them. They were comfy, worked brilliantly as goggles and the tech was useful, fun and reportedly not a distraction. So what happened to Oakley Airwave goggles?

The problem was the GPS kept failing and the batteries didn’t survive long in freezing temperatures. There were also a whole host of software update and app issues which didn’t help. Ultimately sales were not good enough, so Oakley discontinued the Airwaves.

Augmented Reality Ski Googles: To Soon?

What’s your view, was the launch of augmented reality ski googles just too soon? Well that is what Rekkie think, as they launched smart ski goggles that do similar to the Airwaves last season. Have you tried a pair, let us know in the comments below.

AWE365 will try to get hold of a pair to review. So watch this space! As for what happened to the Oakey Airwave AR ski goggles it still feels like a great idea. So perhaps they were just too soon to the market as the tech wasn’t quite there yet.

We hope you enjoyed this flashback article! Want a proper skiing or snowboarding adventure? Then check out these heli-ski holidays worldwide and for those with lower budgets cat-skiing holidays.