Sightful has decided to pivot from its ‘Spacetop’ AR laptop to an AR software for Windows in order to more effectively integrate AR technology with AI capabilities like Copilot.
The company’s founders shared the news with the technology media publication CNET, telling them it has emailed customers who had preordered one of its $1900 Spacetop G1 laptops and offered to refund their $100 deposits.
The creators of the ‘world’s first’ AR laptop, Sightful, is putting the next-generation computers on hold because Microsoft’s focus on system-wide AI in Windows could mean that AI laptop chipsets with neural processing units will be more effective on connected AR glasses than Windows PCs.
Tamir Berliner, CEO of Spacetop, told CNET the event that triggered its decision to pivot from an AR laptop to AR software:
“The moment we saw [Microsoft’s] announcements about AI computers — that everyone’s computers, in the coming few years, are going to be AI computers — it made perfect sense to say we can enable the audience earlier and faster than if we built our own integrated solution.”
Windows AR Software
The software will begin as a dedicated solution for specific Xreal AR display glasses models, which had been a part of the Spacetop G1 hardware package, with no plans yet to increase the solution’s flexibility to include other brands and models AR glasses.
The glasses will be connected to newer Windows computers via USB-C so that it can run Windows apps and connect with Copilot AI.
Windows’ Copilot Plus PCs with ARM-based processors will be more powerful than the Spacetop’s ownQualcomm-based processors.
Berliner and Kahan reportedly told the publication that its Windows-based software will be made available in early 2025, but they did not share what the price tag would be.
Spacetop AR
Berliner wrote a blog post in May this year was sure that the technology was market-ready: “Spatial computing is so promising that any demo of a technology in the domain immediately blows the mind of whoever sees it.
“This was true for the DK1, and it remained true throughout Magic Leap, with Vision Pro showcasing even further future.
“Yet, my answer changes today. For the first time ever there’s a reason to use spatial computing that springs from an everyday need. That answer is productivity, and the product is Spacetop G1.
“I’m extremely proud to present the fruition of years of work, global collaboration during pandemic, war, infinite flights, multi-cultures. The language Spacetop speaks is global and knows no bounds.”
Productivity is not the only benefit of the Spacetop. Privacy is another major selling point as no one else will be able to see what is on your ‘screen’ when viewed through an AR lens.
As the relationship between AI and CR evolves, it may change what we now know of Spacetop, CNET concluded following its demo of the hardware.
For example, while apps currently appear to float around in 2D against a virtual curved display, 3D layout with comprehensive XR-based apps could be enabled within the device in due course.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has also been moving its focus to software solutions with the discontinuation of the HoloLens 2. Instead, the tech giant is putting its energy into connecting its apps and services with Meta Quest and running 3D apps on Windows.
In July, Sightful announced that it would lay off 20 employees and disband its hardware division, as the result of a “long-term strategic decision” to develop AR software solutions.
