14 ms·
Meta unveils next version of augmented reality glasses for $3k
- beachstartup 13y agosweet. i can't wait to use these things in my $20M mansion in the hollywood hills to design rocket engines
- prawn 13y agoIt's funny you should say that because very, very advanced AR goggles could probably furnish a stark house in a virtual way to be as luxurious as you wanted. You could put virtual objet d'art on real or virtual shelves. You could admire a virtual view that simulated the vista from the Hollywood Hills, etc. (I otherwise share your disdain for the rocket engine ra-ra on their sales site.)
- goldenkey 13y agoPre-order now, aka fund us, because all we have is an idea and some Tony Stark marketing videos.
- flyinglizard 13y agoAnd a very cool site.
- smallegan 13y agoMETA is a Y-combinator backed company and they have a team of 25 people working on this and have already shown prototypes to many major tech sites.
- goldenkey 13y agoSo that makes it okay to show a product so-far-bluffed that it will never exist? Get real. The video is the antithesis of honest marketing, it's pure hype.
- smallegan 13y agoNo it means they probably aren't looking for crowd-funding via pre-orders as you suggested and they do have more an idea, a working prototype regardless of how bad it may be is more than an idea.
- goldenkey 13y agoYeah, what happened to the units that were supposed to ship in November 2013? If you are shipping something almost a year late, you've borrowed those persons' money incredulously. It's in their right to file a class action lawsuit for that kind of false marketing.
- 2013throwaway 13y agoYeah, what happened to the units that were supposed to ship in November 2013? They were crazy to announce such an early ship date. Maybe none of those 25 people know about manufacturing...
- nemo1618 13y agoNice to see that they've got Steve Mann onboard. That inspires a lot more confidence than flashy marketing videos.
- alwaysinshade 13y agoAgreed, it would have been better to have the chief scientist discuss the core technologies, design and potential applications than watch an Elon Musk/Tony Stark ripoff drive his Tesla-S home to his sweet pad and knob around with a CAD model of a rocket via a seemingly non-intuitive interface. If the device was only a few hundred dollars to purchase then the marketing video might have had some merit. But at 3k, you're selling to people who want to know how it really performs, and what technical trickery Mann might have introduced to make it an exciting human-machine interface.
- catch23 13y agoWow, that's already a huge endorsement.
- daeken 13y ago> 1280x720 pixels for both displays Does this mean 1280x720 for each display, or combined? That's a bit vague. Still, this is quite neat; the resolution was what made me not back their first Kickstarter. Maybe this is worth throwing a couple grand into, to see what comes out.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- grannyg00se 13y agoAnd at what pixel density? I'd like to know what happens if I take the entire contents of my 1920x1080 desktop and project it say...4 feet away. Does it look like crap or not? For some reason in all of their promo material I can't see a normal looking desktop projected. They're going to have to show much less marketing hype and much more practical use. Especially for a $3000 pre-order.
- PeterisP 13y agoWell, if it's 1280x720 for your whole field of view, so any reasonable size rectangle 4 feet away will be a fraction of that resolution - so, forget about readable text or such.
- locusm 13y agoIs this tech for tech sake that just drains the pockets of early adopters... Not being snarky, just trying to understand what it solves, ultimately who is the customer of these types of device?
- Whitespace 13y agoI'm sorry to have to say it here on HN, but this wannabe apple.com spin-shit-in-3d-when-you-scroll crap is completely unusable. I'm on a Retina 15" MBP – a laptop that their target demographic will be using – and I can barely make it through the site to try to piece together information about their product. Am I supposed to scrounge up an external mouse with a scroll wheel and be impressed by the CSS3 transitions? I'm seeing this more and more and I'm really confused how something like this makes it through QA.
- TillE 13y agoIt's the animated GIFs and blink tag of 2013. I've seen weird scrolling used reasonably well when most of the content is text, but in this case it really should just be a video.
- NamTaf 13y agoNo, the transitions are clunky for me and the whole website just makes me want to throw something at the designers. Stop doing this, people. It's a horrible idea.
- bede 13y agoThe site is remarkable, but undoes so much of its developers' hard work through its sluggishness. My maxed-out Haswell 15" hit 9fps during rapid scrolling in Chrome (FPS counted by dev tools). Hopefully they're less tolerant of poor framerates in their actual product, which sounds very exciting.
- cbhl 13y agoI fear for the people who use these devices in production. IIRC, over-eye VR displays cause nausea even with a relatively low latency (~20 ms[citation needed]), which was one of the reasons why Glass went for the "above the field of view and on one eye" approach. I'm not even sure if it's possible for consumer hardware available today to process/draw fast enough to make users not nauseous, wearable form factor or otherwise.
- interpol_p 13y ago
- zcase 13y agoVisionary, but seemingly impractical. Any way of seeing videos of real use that isn't spinning rockets around? Not trying to be condescending, but that seems more marketing than reflective of what people can/will use Meta for.
- julianpye 13y agoAR stereoscopic see-through displays are complex, difficult tech. This has nothing to do with Google Glass which is closer to being an aside information display. Sony has the most IPR and expertise in the field when it comes to displays that create a 3D augmented experience for both eyes. They have examined this field for ages and had a hard time to discover application fields. Meta hopefully cracks this nut and delivers a development program that brings stereoscopic AR to the next level. But as someone who managed an AR portable display team in this field for VF, I see it as a steep challenge.
- radley 13y agoCurious to know more about what Sony's doing. If the price drops enough: Dennō Coil.
- venus 13y agoGlad to see someone else here has seen Dennou Coil - IMO it should be required viewing for anyone interested in AR! It's not perfect, but has some fascinating ideas about where AR could go.
- sejje 13y agoHow programmable is this?
- zxcvvcxz 13y agoAre there videos of actual first-person (recorded by camera) demos? Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the video was all graphic editing and thus not representative of the device itself. If I were to shell out $3K I'd want to see actual product demonstrations, which I can't seem to find.
- sanswork 13y agoIt says right before the demo part that those views were filmed through the glasses using this http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpocketcin... and not cgi.
- prawn 13y agoSomeone linked this further up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rj9nMJq1Vk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rj9nMJq1Vk
- lettergram 13y agoOnly demo I could find... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rj9nMJq1Vk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rj9nMJq1Vk
- riobard 13y ago“Mirror All Your Devices“ is just plain stupid. Skeuomorphism in the next generation.
- MojoJolo 13y agoThe price is steep but Steve Mann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann) is there chief scientist. I think if anyone we can trust about AR, Steve Mann is the guy. He's wearing those glasses before it was cool. He got a lot of experience, and troubles with those glasses (see "steve mann mcdonalds"). He really know what he's doing.
- lalc 13y agoI'm writing a middlebrow (lowbrow, really) dismissal because this actually deserves it. This is... shamelessly phony. "Your laptop is now a hologram"?[1] Do I have to 3D scan my laptop in? Are they going to mind-upload my Intel CPU to the cloud while they're at it? Your use-case for AR is a ghostly 5FPS replica of my laptop or phone that I can vaguely gesture at? Tracing in the air to lathe a rocket hull will bring me closer to the world? Meta has access to non-rendered pages of app icons inside the iOS sandbox? "ROCKET COMPLETED"? "500+ Meta Applications in development"? They say this is real footage, and have a big red "BUY NOW" button. What target audience is this supposed to convince? [1] http://i.imgur.com/unxD96I.jpg http://i.imgur.com/unxD96I.jpg
- grannyg00se 13y ago"Your laptop is now a hologram" refers to the fact[1] that you won't need a physical machine (aside from the Intel i5 cpu in your pocket). The keyboard is virtual, and the monitor is virtual. Everything else is physical but it's tiny. [1]best guess
- prawn 13y agoThen leave the laptop out of it. Seems pointless retaining the laptop form factor for this, even to demonstrate the concept to an audience.
- grannyg00se 13y agoAgreed, it looks ridiculous having the full enclosure of the laptop (or phone) rendered and floating in front of you when you could just have the screen and keys separate from each other and independently movable.
- prawn 13y agoA virtual laptop is unconstrained by weight requirements, need to stow easily on an aircraft, etc but no way should the display top 15"!
- 13y ago
- 2013throwaway 13y agoDidn't their website used to say shipping November 2013? What happened to the people who ordered with that promise? Anyways, that was a crazy ship date they were never going to meet, even if their CAD had been completely 100% finalized and locked, it would have taken them that long just to make the tooling, let alone manufacture a run of parts. Maybe next time they hire 25 people at least one of them should know manufacturing.
- grannyg00se 13y agoThis seems cool if you want to hold your hands in front of you and spin things around in virtual 3D. Personally I could do without all that - I just want a really nice looking virtual 2D screen projected in front of me so I can finally ditch my fixed-in-place monitor.
- btbuildem 13y agothis is so retro
- tree6014 13y agoI don't usually get angry just from seeing a product promo. But, this has done it. Note that the glasses are stationary for all but one shot where the movement is slow and linear and it still shows tracking error. If it's not ready, it's not ready. They should have kept their reputation in tact and tried again in a few years rather than trying to sell a bad prototype under a false banner. My attention is directed toward the Oculus Rift. I own the dev kit and have been following Oculus VR closely. Save your VR/AR gadget money for their consumer release if you want something that lives up to the hype and delivers on its promises.
- chasing 13y agoI do not believe that people in general will be interested in having permanent digital displays attached directly over their field of vision. Maybe specialists. Doctors. Mechanics. People who have their hands full but still need to access informational resources. But for general use, they're just too distancing. And intimidating, frankly. (Don't get me wrong -- they look cool and I'd love to try it out. And there might be a business, here. But it reminds me of the Segway: Touted as the revolutionizer of cities, but in the end something with limited utility once the hype-wave settled.)
- prawn 13y agoGiven high enough resolution and light enough hardware, I can see it happening. Many already drive or walk outside wearing sunglasses, or wear glasses for reading. A pair of very light-weight goggles that could switch quickly from fully opaque display to translucent overlay to what appeared to be standard vision (but was replicated by cameras) could be useful. Add in ear buds that can open a valve (rather than be removed) and you could do all sorts of things. Virtually furnished rooms, watching virtual displays in any position, any angle, etc. TVs and monitors could well become obsolete if the resolution is enough to simulate them. I wonder if it would even be possible to set your goggles to show other wearers in your home and office as though they weren't wearing theirs, even if they were. Some sort of internal eye-tracking could potentially simulate their eyes realistically enough if the uncanny valley could be surpassed.
- potatolicious 13y agoI don't doubt the hardware can exist and work well. The question is what is it for? Okay, I have a display on my head that is aware of the world around me, with perfect latency and extreme accuracy (still two of the biggest unsolved problems, but let's assume). I'm walking around on the street. What would this thing be doing? I'm cooking dinner. What would it be showing me? I'm hanging out with my friends. What would...? There are certainly a lot of niche, professional uses: technicians and engineers can get information hands-free while on all fours or strung up on a high pole. Realtors can use it to show prospective tenants virtual layouts (as you brought up). Professional drivers can use it to get dispatches without taking their eyes off the road. None of this particularly compels the everyman to wear one regularly. What does it do for the average joe, in their average joe lives?
- aresant 13y agoThis pitch struggles more than usual communicating "why" I need this product. Apple's genius in their early iphone commercials was showing the product as it was seamlessly integrated into our daily lives.(1) Email, video, maps, real internet on the go. As soon as you saw the commercial you knew you were going to buy one because you knew how it would benefit you. I have yet to have that sort of connection with any sort of wearable AR device. (1) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4acWkNihaxc http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4acWkNihaxc
- qq66 13y agoHow about: your studio apartment feels like a mansion, your hellion offspring seem like perfect angels, and your car always looks (to you) as if it's just been detailed?
- JDDunn9 13y agoEasily 5x as useful as Google Glass. Though, still not that useful.
- mercnet 13y agoAs an aerospace engineer I laughed so hard at Rocket Completed. What exactly is your market? I am confused on why I would use your system to combined two parts to create my rocket assembly.
- JoshTriplett 13y agoImpressively flashy, and nice that it comes with a very flat pocketable computer, but that aside I'm much more excited about CastAR (http://technicalillusions.com/ http://technicalillusions.com/ , http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/technicalillusions/castar-the-most-versatile-ar-and-vr-system http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/technicalillusions/casta... ). HDMI input, camera, sensors, and a nice RFID system for taggable physical objects and mats.
- ch4s3 13y agoThat chat pop up on the site is super weird. I mean I knew those things existed, but still.
- kayoone 13y agoI dont think they are doing themselves a favor with a bullshit marketing video like this. They seem to have a great team but all we have seen from Meta other than pre-rendered marketing videos has been a bit rough, to put mildly. Example [1] Id love my virtual AR 70 inch high res computer display though, so i hope they succeed ;) [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWPdAhhUWD0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWPdAhhUWD0
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- rohunati 13y agoMaybe someone here can answer this. Do founders of important technologies generally have a good idea of the primary use case(s) for their product? Seems silly to ask, but I posed this very question to Meta, and their answer was essentially that they are going to "let their users decide that." Three use cases were listed off, but I didn't find them particularly impressive. What should be made of this? I ask because it seems contrary to the importance of solving a problem. With SpaceGlasses, the users run around deciding how the product can enrich their lives. Seems pretty odd. I've found that with lots of successful tech products, I've been able to pretty quickly see the how I could use it in my everyday life. The iPhone is the classic example, but even search, email, Facebook. I don't really see that here. I'm pretty young though, so my experience is really limited. Also, I realize my personal experience doesn't make for a very strong argument. Still, it's a pretty terrible pitch.
- maaku 13y agoThis technology will change the world. But not at that price point. And not with that pitch.
- interpol_p 13y agoThe chat box is incredibly obnoxious, as is the big red "BUY NOW" button right on top of the video I am trying to watch in order to _learn about your product_. The site feels desperate for sales. Preventing the chat box from continuously popping up and killing the "BUY NOW" video overlays would be a big help.
- aidenn0 13y agoAnyone else bothered by calling stereography "a hologram" or is it just me?