SILICONE VALLEY, Jan 24 — The fact that it hit its US$250,000 (RM832,000) Kickstarter funding goal in four hours suggests that consumers seem to think so.
The headset’s makers, Avegant, describe it as a mobile personal theater, because it is focused on delivering media to the wearer, rather than constantly bombarding him or her with notification alerts from tethered devices. But that doesn’t mean that the Glyph is not smart. The technology it uses for beaming images into the wearer’s eyes is revolutionary, but for now this Virtual Retinal Display is confined to screening videos and games.
The concept behind the device is surprisingly simple and elegant, in a bulky sort of way. When out and about, the Glyph is a set of premium over-the-ear headphones for listening to music. Then, when on a train or plane, for example, or simply lounging around at home, the headband section of the Glyph slides down over the eyes and the headphones become an immersive multimedia headset.
It can connect to potentially any multimedia device — from a smartphone or tablet to a PC or games console — via HDMI, but that’s not the end of the story.
The Glyph also has a host of built-in sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes that can track head movement. At the moment they’re just lying dormant but Avegant hopes that this feature will be seized by future content creators to automatically change the point of view in a game, or to offer 360° tracking shots in a film.
But for now the Glyph is ‘simply’ an ultra-portable personal cinema and one that’s being offered, via Kickstarter for US$499 (shipping expected by December 2014).
Yet this ‘lack’ of functionality when compared to say Google Glass or a host of other emerging smart headsets hasn’t stopped the device from hitting its US$250,000 funding goal within four hours. In fact, two days after launching its funding campaign, donations already total US$460,000 and there are still 28 days left to go. Could the Glyph become the next Pebble smartwatch? — AFp/Relaxnews
