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Lynx Standalone AR-VR Headset Kickstarter Launches With $600 Price

From uploadvr

French startup Lynx just launched the Kickstarter campaign for its upcoming standalone AR-VR hybrid headset.

The device is promised for pledges above €530, equivalent to just over $600.

Lynx R1 was initially announced in February 2020 as a $1500 product focused on businesses and professionals, but in July of this year the company announced a radical strategy shift, removing eye tracking to significantly reduce price and target consumers too.

The headset uses the same Snapdragon XR2 processor found in Oculus Quest 2 & HTC’s Vive Focus 3. But whereas those headsets can only show a low resolution black & white view of the real world, Lynx R1 has two dedicated high resolution color cameras for passthrough AR.

Its unique lens design – a “4-fold catadioptric freeform prism” – enables a more compact form factor than typical VR headsets. In front of the lenses are dual 1600×1600 LCD panels running at 90Hz. That’s lower resolution than Quest 2, but higher than Valve Index.

For better weight balance the battery is located in the rear, and the company says it should last two hours of active use between charges. While AR mode lets you see the real world, you can also flip up the headset without having to take it off or awkwardly balance it on your head.

The package includes a VR facial interface to block out light from the sides when playing virtual reality content.

Two dedicated IR cameras on the front of the headset enable Ultraleap hand tracking, the device’s primary input method. By pledging €99 (around $115) extra you can also get a pair of tracked controllers, produced in a partnership with FinchShift. These controllers don’t actually have LEDs for the headset cameras to follow – instead their accelerometer & gyroscope (IMU) data is fused with hand tracking.

Like Oculus Quests, Lynx R1 runs a modified version of Android and will have a boundary safety system similar to Facebook’s Guardian. Lynx has its own SDK, but also plans to support OpenXR content in Q4 of 2022. The app store on Lynx R1 will offer VR apps, AR apps, and even apps that can switch between each.

At launch Lynx R1 will support SteamVR via USB-C cable to a gaming PC. A future update will add wireless SteamVR streaming. Virtual Desktop developer Guy Godin said he looks forward to supporting other OpenXR headsets.

UploadVR plans to get hands-on with Lynx R1 in the coming months to bring you our impressions.

Nreal Announces Ultra Compact But Non-AR Smartglasses

From uploadvr

Nreal just announced Nreal Air, smartglasses for viewing media on a head-locked screen.

The company’s current product Nreal Light are the only pair of true AR glasses available to consumers – though only in Germany, Spain, Japan, and South Korea. Light is priced between $750 and $1000 depending on the market. Onboard cameras enable virtual objects positioned in the real world and you can pin virtual floating screens in place. Last year it got support for hand tracking input.

Nreal Air is a very different product. It doesn’t have any cameras so doesn’t have positional tracking or hand tracking, and it doesn’t have rotational tracking either. It’s effectively just a large floating screen locked to your head. Nreal says this allows it to be “a fraction of the price”, and Nreal Light will continue to be sold as the company’s true AR product at its higher pricepoint.

At 77 grams Nreal Air is 27% lighter than Nreal Light, only around twice a thick pair of sunglasses. An OLED microdisplay offers higher resolution and increases the refresh rate to 90 Hz.

The field of view is 46 degrees diagonal, which equates to a 130 inch screen at 4 meters.

nreal air close up

As with Light, Nreal Air is tethered, powered by your phone via a cable. But while Light only supports a specific list of flagship Android phones, Nreal Air mirrors your iPhone screen or “almost any” Android. That means you can view your existing media apps such as YouTube and Twitch on a massive virtual screen – though again it will be locked to your head.

Nreal Air will ship in November to Japan, South Korea, and China.

Cheaper & Lighter Nreal AR Glasses To Be Announced Next Week

From uploadvr

Nreal told CNBC it will announce new AR glasses with a “complete new design” next week.

The current Nreal Light is the only true AR glasses available to consumers today – though only in Germany, Spain, Japan, and South Korea. It’s priced between $750 and $1000 depending on the market and weighs around twice as much as a heavy pair of sunglasses. Unlike bulky AR headsets such as HoloLens 2, Nreal Light is powered by an Android phone over USB-C. Compatible devices include the Samsung Galaxy S20 series and Sony Xperia 5 II.

CEO Chi Xu said the new glasses will still require an Android phone but will be lighter, more comfortable and cheaper. “This product with a lower price point, this can be much easier to penetrate those other markets, like China and elsewhere,” Xu said. It’s unclear whether that includes the USA.

We last tried Nreal Light back in 2019. The image was clear & sharp and the tracking was solid, but like all other current AR devices the narrow field of view (52 degrees diagonal) felt extremely limited.

Nreal’s system software is called Nebula. It lets you mirror your phone screen as a floating window and position it where you want with hand tracking. With a few phones such as Sony Xperia 5 III and OPPO Find X3 Pro you can even launch and pin multiple Android apps at once. With Nebula you could lie back in bed & pin a YouTube video to your ceiling or browse the web as a giant floating window from your couch. Nebula also supports 3D AR apps available from the Google Play Store, including Spatial and Figmin XR.

If Nreal’s yet to be announced AR glasses ship in major western markets it will have a first mover advantage over Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon – though time will tell how much that really matters.

Report: Apple’s AR-VR Headset To Launch Second Half Of 2022

From uploadvr

Taiwanese news outlet DigiTimes claims Apple’s rumored AR-VR headset will launch in the second half of 2022.

More than half of the world’s chips are manufactured in Taiwan as well as many consumer products. DigiTimes tends to cite “supply chain sources”, but has a mixed track record on accuracy.

The Information, Bloomberg and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo all claim Apple will release a sleek AR-VR headset as early as 2022 with high resolution color cameras. In February The Information claimed to have viewed images of a late-stage prototype “which show a sleek, curved visor attached to the face by a mesh material and swappable headbands”. The outlet drew an impression:

The report claims the product is in a second phase of prototype testing, with mass production slated for Q2 2022 in time for a launch later in the year.

Ming-Chi Kuo predicted the headset will be priced around $1000, but DigiTimes reports the price may rise to more than $2000 due to high component costs. The outlet claims the frame is made from a high strength lightweight magnesium alloy containing rare earth elements.

Facebook Reveals $299 Ray-Ban Stories Smartglasses With Camera And Assistant

From uploadvr

After a week of teases, Facebook and Ray-Ban are finally announcing Ray-Ban Stories, a new line of smartglasses with built-in cameras and Facebook features.

Check out the full announcement video including an introduction to the kit from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Rocco Basilico of Ray-Ban brand owner Luxottica below.

Ray-Ban Stories Specs And Features

As expected (and essentially confirmed in a leak earlier today), Ray-Ban Stories are sunglasses that resemble traditional Ray-Ban models with small cameras embedded in the top corners of the rims. Like the Snap Spectacles before them, you can use these cameras to instantly capture point-of-view footage, as was demonstrated by Facebook VP of VR and AR, Andrew Bosworth, in a tease earlier this week. The glasses don’t, however, feature any sort of VR or AR functionality.

The dual 5MP cameras capture up for 30 seconds of video or images. An LED lights up when the glasses are recording or taking a photo. There’s also built-in Bluetooth support and a 3-microphone audio array allowing you to connect to your phone to take calls or listen to apps.

As for Facebook features, the glasses are integrated with the Facebook Assistant, allowing you to operate the glasses with your voice. You can also use the Facebook View companion app to share media through other services including non-Facebook applications.

Ray-Ban Stories Price And Release Date

Ray-Ban Stories are launching today in the US, UK, Canada, Italy, Ireland and Australia and start at $299 USD, the same price as the entry-level 128GB Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. You can also pick them up with Polarized lenses starting at $329 or Transitions lenses starting at $379. The glasses come in three models named Wayfarer (Wayfarer L), Round and Meteor and are available in five different colors.

Are Ray-Ban Stories AR Glasses?

In a nutshell: no. AR technology has a spatial understanding of the world around you and then uses that information to project virtual images into your environment. Ray-Ban Stories won’t do this, and they won’t even have an overlay interface. They do, however, represent a form factor that Facebook is no doubt keen to one day reach with an AR headset; current devices like the Microsoft HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap One are bulky and unfit for all-day use. Facebook Reality Labs, the division of the company responsible for AR and VR technology, is using prototype AR glasses not intended for consumer use, but it will be some time before the company brings a true consumer AR headset to market.

What do you make of Ray-Ban Stories? Will you be picking up a pair? Let us know in the comments below!

Report: Facebook’s Ray-Ban Glasses May Have Leaked

From uploadvr

The upcoming smartglasses from Facebook and Ray-Ban may have leaked ahead of their official reveal today.

Twitter leakster Evleaks just posted a series of pictures that may reveal four different designs for the glasses. Each essentially looks like a pair of normal Ray-Ban glasses with cameras in the top corners of the rims. The temples also look a little thicker than some other Ray-Ban models, no doubt due to the internal batteries and circuitry the glasses are housing. There’s also a button on top of the right temple.

Facebook Ray-Ban Leak?

Other shots appear to reveal what you’ll get with the glasses, including a case. Plus there are boxes that might reveal the names of the models. One’s called Wayfarer, one is Meteor and another is Round, and they all seem to be under the name of ‘Ray-Ban Stories’.

There’s no confirmation that these pictures are legitimate, though, so take it with a pinch of salt for now. We’ll hopefully have a clearer picture of exactly what the glasses are later today.

What we’re not expecting, though, is for the glasses to have any real AR features. Earlier this week Facebook’s Andrew Bosworth teased the point-of-view recording feature but, aside from that, we really don’t know much about the kit. We’ll bring you more news when Facebook and Ray-Ban reveal whatever it is they have in-store later today.

What do you make of this potential Facebook/Ray-Ban leak? Are you interested in the glasses at all? Let us know in the comments below.

Facebook/Ray-Ban Smartglasses Reveal Coming On Thursday

From uploadvr

It looks like we’ll be getting the first details about Facebook’s collaboration with Ray-Ban on a pair of smartglasses later this week.

Ray-Ban’s official website just posted a tease with the date 09/09/2021, suggesting we’ll get more details this Thursday. We can see what’s likely a silhouette of the glasses themselves but, other than that there’s little in the way of details.

The page does allow users to sign up for a ‘Release Notification’, though it’s not clear if the smartglasses might actually launch this week, or we’ll simply get a date for later down the line. Last year Facebook said the glasses would launch in 2021 and, more recently, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reconfirmed they’d be the company’s next hardware launch.

Yesterday Facebook VP of AR and VR, Andrew Bosworth, teased a reveal of the glasses by showing off what looks like a point-of-view recording feature while on vacation with Zuckerberg. You don’t actually see the glasses themselves in the video, though.

Despite Bosworth’s tease, we’re not expecting this Ray-Ban collaboration to include any true augmented reality features, instead likely resembling one of the earlier generations of the Snap Spectacles (which, funnily enough, have already evolved into a pretty impressive prototype AR headset). That said, we’ll need to see the official details on Thursday to know what the device is really capable of. Facebook is working on its own, more advanced AR prototypes, but we don’t expect to see those for years yet.

What are you hoping to see out of the Ray-Ban and Facebook smartglasses? Let us know in the comments below.