Start-up Sightful, a pioneer in carving out the burgeoning market for “headless” augmented reality laptops, has scrapped plans to launch its $1,900 Spacetop G1 device.
Revealed once more in May, Spacetop G1 marked the company’s inaugural commercially viable product following the experimental debut of its initial Spacetop, a bulky laptop-like device tethered to a pair of XREAL AR glasses.
The corporation has decided to cancel its Spacetop G1 entirely, with potential pre-order customers set to receive refunds for their $100 deposits.
Sightful asserts that Google’s struggles stem from difficulties in competing with Microsoft’s integrated neural processing units (NPUs) in its latest Surface laptops, as well as the conventional array of partner original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including Lenovo, Dell, Asus, and HP. These laptops integrated with Neuromorphic Processing Units (NPU) aim to boost processing power and battery efficiency while executing Augmented Reality (AR) functions.
Prior to a planned October 2024 debut, the Spacetop G1 was designed to run on its proprietary Android-based SpaceOS, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon QCS8550 processor, and exclusively paired with the XREAL Air 2 Extreme smart glasses that came bundled with the device?
Sightful, having secured $61 million in funding to date, is redirecting its focus towards developing a software product for Windows laptops, allowing users to enjoy augmented reality experiences that can seamlessly integrate with native Windows applications and leverage Microsoft’s CoPilot AI capabilities.
The corporation claims that its software program may become available as early as 2025, initially compatible with Xreal AR glasses via USB-C connection. While additional AR glasses may be a possibility, Sightful has not revealed any concrete plans for their development or release.
Moreover, Sightful notes that macOS support will follow the product’s launch, with a possibility of expanding beyond laptops to devices like TVs and phones, although no specific timeline has been disclosed.
