Jan 17 2014
LASTER Technologies today announced a Kickstarter campaign featuring SeeThru, the first genuine Augmented Reality (AR) consumer wireless eyewear. SeeThru connects with any smartphone to provide the highest definition augmented reality capabilities wirelessly and a field of view that is two to three times larger than Google Glass’.
LASTER SeeThru (Photo: Business Wire)
SeeThru is developed by AR device pioneers using a patented core technology that pre-dates all other consumer glass manufacturers. The glasses display crystal-clear images, text, and video on the lens, unlike other glasses that require wearers to blink awkwardly or look up and away from their normal field of view.
In addition to top-of-the-line image quality, SeeThru goes a step beyond the rudimentary information that other glasses display, incorporating precise geo-location capabilities. For example, when driving, directions and a map appear on the lens in a non-disruptive way. If the wearer is looking at a landmark such as the Eiffel Tower, information about that structure and location pops up instantly, e.g., the height of the Eiffel Tower, when it was built, etc. If you were in front a series of mountains and asked Google Glass what you were looking at, it would search for and display a map of your location. You’d then have to go through extra steps using the search engine to determine what you’re viewing and acquire specific information about each mountain. Alternatively, SeeThru’s architectural intelligence presents the valuable information you want by instantly identifying your location, the names of the mountain peaks, as well as additional physical and historical information.
On a bike, motorcycle, or skateboard? SeeThru can point out the best routes and even display custom routes that your friends or others have created, complete with comments along the way for a truly crowdsourced real-world experience. SeeThru will initially allow wearers to:
- Use GPS capability to instantly get information about the places around you—without having to search for it yourself.
- See real-time information, such as time, date, calendars, pop-up messages, etc.
- Voice and phone based navigation
- View photos
- Browse the Internet
- View SMS/text messages, emails and contacts
- Answer the phone hands-free using voice commands
- Play music
- Play games
- Read e-books
“For the last eight years we’ve been driven by the desire to democratize AR glasses,” said Zile Liu, founder and CEO of LASTER. “We produced over a hundred prototypes using technology that’s been perfected and tested by enterprises and the military. SeeThru proves that you don’t have to buy an expensive set of glasses to get great features and the best genuine AR quality, and you don’t need to sacrifice your privacy. Privacy has always been part of our commitment to SeeThru users. We want to eliminate any chance of ‘glassholes’ recording people without their knowledge.”
The unique optical technology embedded in SeeThru offers the best image quality on the market, including a full-color, sharp, smooth and bright display (> 5200 nits--1 nit = 1 cd/m2). Not only is SeeThru unrivaled in its AR technology, it provides a wider field of vision (25° diag) and image definition (800x600 pixels) than big name competitors. SeeThru features voice and phone-based navigation.
To provide AR content, LASTER embedded sensors into SeeThru, including three gyroscopes, three accelerometers, and three compasses. To preserve privacy, LASTER uses built-in sensors and the Android’s GPS to track what’s being viewed and automatically displays relevant information. SeeThru’s architecture reduces the glasses’ energy use, lowering its overall cost and extending battery life. As smartphone computing power improves, SeeThru’s architecture allows wearers to automatically experience the latest AR benefits without having to make changes to their existing SeeThru glasses.