Lenovo, best known for laptop and desktop computers and the owner of the Motorola brand, popped a surprise at CES 2017: an enterprise-class monocular visor it's calling the New Glass C200. The lightweight (60-gram) visor connects to a pocket unit, which is driven by software on a smartphone. Lenovo says the pocket unit connects to the visor with over LTE, but photos provided … [Read more...]
Got $3,000? You Can Now Buy Microsoft HoloLens
Now that Microsoft has finished seeding initial developers, the company is opening up availability for a first wave of commercial customers. Go to hololens.com and you can pick up as many as five of the AR visors, for a mere $3,000 each. Along with the developer's software, there's a Commercial Suite that adds enterprise features like a kiosk mode, device management, an app … [Read more...]
Wearables AR Pioneer Skully Hits the Wall
We're seeing reports that Skully -- the company that made an augmented reality motorcycle helmet that was one of the first high-profile wearables startups -- has fallen apart. And those reports indicate that the end is not peaceful. Skully's helmets were essentially heads-up displays mounted inside the visors, giving wearers views of their bikes controls as well as … [Read more...]
AR Visor Maker Lumus Scores $15M Funding at $300M Valuation
The Israeli AR visor startup Lumus has closed a $15M funding round from two Chinese companies. We met with Lumus earlier this year, at CES, and were impressed by its technology. The binocular visor -- more like an Epson Moverio than a Vuzix M-300 -- uses optical waveguide technology and is therefore comparatively thin and lightweight. What was particularly impressive, … [Read more...]
Microsoft Buzzes with Project X Ray and HoloLens
Although it seems clear that Microsoft’s HoloLens is geared more to the real, grown-up world, Project X Ray is a sure sign that they remember the rest of us. It’s an AR (Augmented Reality) game that uses the HoloLens to bring 3-D images into play, with images a player can grab, wear, and use to blow up things. You can designate any object in your house as your weapon. (Let’s … [Read more...]