2023-05-19 02:36:00
On my lap sits a small keyboard and trackpad. But there is no display. At least you can’t see it from the outside. But to my eyes, wearing augmented reality (AR) glasses, I see dozens of open windows in a curved workspace that surrounds me.
Spacetop is a laptop without a screen
Credit: Scott Stein/CNET
I first used Spacetop in January in Las Vegas, but developer Sightful is finally launching an early access program for the product.announced. We’ve seen plenty of AR and virtual reality (VR) headsets, but few unique peripherals designed to work with these futuristic goggles and glasses. Spacetop’s biggest selling point isn’t gaming or social experiences, but turning your laptop into an AR-enabled device with a myriad of virtual displays.
If selling this sounds strange, consider that some people, like me, are already doing it. I’ve paired a Meta Platforms Quest Pro with a laptop and spread a virtual monitor around my face. There are already a ton of such solutions out there, and there are apps for them. However, the interface can be difficult to use and the hardware isn’t optimized for mobile.
Spacetop, itself powered by a Qualcomm processor, acts as a spatially trackable anchor, allowing AR glasses to track the floating display relative to this fixed point. It can be tracked while traveling by car or plane. You can also turn the virtual display on and off, such as pressing a button on the keyboard to turn off the floating display when talking to someone nearby.
Provided by: Sightful
Spacetop comes with Nreal Light AR glasses, which must be physically connected to the keyboard to use. Sightful’s founders plan to eventually go wireless, but for now they’ve decided that a wired connection is more reliable for consistent spatial tracking. The overall concept could also eventually support other AR and mixed reality (MR) headset hardware.
Spacetop has an AR glasses cradle
Credit: Scott Stein/CNET
The field of view is narrower than most VR headsets. You can see a window as big as a 40-inch TV screen across a table, but to see another floating window minimized within Spacetop’s “Chrome”-like interface, you’ll need to turn your head need to turn around.
All zooming and scrolling of the display is done with the trackpad and keyboard. The keyboard itself becomes the interface.
Sightful co-founder Tomer Kahan. gave me a demo of Spacetop
Credit: Scott Stein/CNET
Sightful’s team has a lot of experience in the AR space. Co-founders Tamir Berliner and Tomer Kahan are both from Magic Leap, and Berliner is also the founder of PrimeSense. PrimeSense is an Israeli company that was involved in the development of 3D depth sensor technology that was also used in Microsoft’s game controller “Kinect”. Apple acquired the company in 2013 to form the underlying technology for the TrueDepth camera used by Face ID.
This article is from overseas Red Venturesarticlewas edited by Asahi Interactive for Japan.
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