The Osterhout Design Group used to be a very quiet pioneering company in the world of augmented reality, until it cut a still-mysterious licensing and patent deal with Microsoft. The money seems to have gotten over its reticence; at Augmented World Expo today, the company announced a new and self-contained augmented reality goggle, the R7. Calling it a "goggle" really … [Read more...]
Techcrunch: Osterhout/Microsoft Deal Was for IP, Cost Up To $150 Million
Way back in September, we wrote about a report that Microsoft was talking to the secretive Osterhout Design Group about buying the company and its portfolio of wearables patents for $200 million. Techcrunch managed to get a very rare interview with Ralph Osterhout, who says he sold a portfolio of patents and not his entire company; another source put the value of the deal at … [Read more...]
WSJ: Microsoft Testing Wearables Prototypes
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft is testing wearables prototypes not unlike Google Glass. Faithful readers will not be surprised by this; we reported on Sept. 20 that Microsoft was spending $200 million to spur their efforts in that direction. The Osterhout purchase, along with the $7 billion acquisition of Nokia, would suggest that they're pretty serious … [Read more...]