Heads up, Google, Glass is about to get some serious competition. Recon Instruments, a Canadian technology company known for athlete-focused heads-up display products, is looking to expand into general-purpose HUD technology. The company's prototype device - dubbed Jet - was officially unveiled today, and Recon Instruments hopes to release a retail product by the end of this year.

At first glance, the Jet looks like little more than a pair of sunglasses with an attached LCD screen; you won't be mistaking Recon Instrument's HUD for Google's anytime soon. On closer inspection, though, the Jet has promise. Boasting a dual-core CPU, HD camera, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, ANT+ and a myriad of sensors, Recon Instrument's glasses look to account for every augmented reality scenario imaginable. In addition, perhaps cognizant of the competitiveness of the HUD market, the company's incorporated potentially differentiating features into Jet: an optical touch sensor for gloved operation, interchangeable lenses, and a Bluetooth remote.

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It's too early to tell if Recon Instrument's heads-up display will be a success, but the company's smartly betting on developers to get the ball rolling. The headset runs Android Jelly Bean, and Recon Instruments is releasing an SDK specifically aimed at HUD-optimized app design. An SDK is available now, but without any Jet-specific additions. The full-featured version should be released this summer, according to company representative we met at I/O.

[Recon Instruments, Press Release]