Laptops

AR laptop puts 100-inch virtual screen in front of your eyes

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A 13-inch laptop form factor that offers users a 100-inch screen in front of their eyes
Sightful
A 13-inch laptop form factor that offers users a 100-inch screen in front of their eyes
Sightful
The AR glasses are stowed within the folio-like cover between uses
Sightful
The AR glasses are cabled to, and powered by, the keyboard base
Sightful
A bit of a bump when packed up for transport, but still compact enough to throw in a backpack
Sightful
The folio-like cover includes a 5-MP webcam for virtual team chats
Sightful
Insight has partnered wit tech companies like Qualcomm, Wistron and XReal to realize the Spacetop G1 AR laptop
Sightful
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Around this time last year, tech startup Sightful invited a thousand productivity pioneers to be the first to experience the Spacetop system, a laptop that uses AR glasses for a display. Now the updated and refined Gen 1 product has gone up for sale.

The general idea here is that instead of having to hunch over a relatively small screen when remote working on a laptop, the user would pop on a pair of augmented-reality glasses cabled to a keyboard base about the same size as a 13-inch laptop and be treated to a 100-inch virtual display in front of their eyes.

Interaction with the productivity windows, video boxes, games or whatever projected out front is about the same as with a standard laptop, via the keyboard and touchpad. The original system pinned the virtual display in place, which could be zoomed in or out as the user moved back and forth thanks to a tracking camera, but the company confirmed to us that this feature is not currently supported in the G1 release. The demo video (at the end of this overview) suggests that such things are now controlled by the trackpad instead.

The AR glasses are cabled to, and powered by, the keyboard base
Sightful

The dock for between-use AR glasses has now moved from just above the keyboard section to the angled upper folio-like cover, but the funky augmented specs are still hard-wired to the base. The chipset is now a Snapdragon QCS8550 flavor with KRYO CPU and Adreno 740 graphics plus AI processing, which is reported to be 70% faster than the Qualcomm brains found in the Early Access model.

Onboard system memory shapes up as 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which is paired with 128 GB of UFS 3.1 storage (though not all of that is available to the user). Wireless chops have been upgraded to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, plus there's 5G/LTE cooked in too. The base includes a 60-Wh battery for up to 8 hours of per-charge use, and there are two USB-C ports for peripherals.

The whole shebang runs an operating system called Space OS that's been optimized for spatial computing, and a 5-megapixel webcam is included as well, though users may opt to use an avatar for video chats rather than share a headshot sporting goofy AR glasses.

The wearable part of the equation weighs in at 3 oz (85 g) and sports two OLED display panels for 1,920 x 1,080 pixels per eye at a refresh rate of 90 Hz and a 50-degree field of view. Auto-dimming "enhances focus and provides lossless text legibility" in brightly lit environments. Usefully, the setup can support custom prescription inserts for those who already wear glasses.

The G1 system glasses also feature an open-ear speaker for each side of the head plus a microphone for voice comms, and there's a 6-watt base speaker too.

The folio-like cover includes a 5-MP webcam for virtual team chats
Sightful

"We introduced Spacetop to free people from the constraints of time and space, as we don’t believe people should be stuck in 14-inch screens," said Tamir Berliner, CEO and co-founder of Sightful. "We firmly believe in the power of AR glasses as the first step. Physical reality has always been the limiting factor – bulky, uncomfortable headsets, limited battery and processing power, and a world that is not yet built for daily AR. This is why we collaborating with the world leading companies to deliver the most delightful product, and what we see as the world’s best laptop."

Qualcomm, Wistron and XReal are among the partners that Sightful is working with to deliver the AR laptop. The Spacetop G1 is open for reservations now at US$100 per unit – the final price is US$1,900 – with shipping expected to start from October. The video below has more.

Product page: Spacetop G1

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4 comments
Username
Storing the glasses lenses out will have them scratched in no time.
paul314
Calling it a 100-inch virtual screen is pretty much clickbait, because that depends entirely on the virtual distance you imagine the screen to be from your eyes. How big would it be if it were the usual 2 feet away that real monitors are? The important thing is the resolution, because that says how much information you can display, and at what level of quality.
Tech Fascinated
This looks awesome and gives the illusion of multiple high resolution virtual screens at your disposal. The emphasis is on the 100 inch display. But it was disappointing to read "sports two OLED display panels for 1,920 x 1,080 pixels per eye". That is the equivalent of one HD display. I would have expected at least 4K to be able to live up to the renderings.
MCG
Sweet! This looks like the future. Either these guys will get bought by the big 5 or I believe will follow this trend. Talk about out of the box thinking. Love it. I just hope its easy on the eyes and as much research goes into eye care as convenience. Here is a freebie for you tech companies, build eye therapy into your devices to fight eye fatigue and more to at least reach a neutral position. I'm thinking infrared light therapy, massage therapy, and more.