Avegant, a technology company from California announced the availability of the Glyph integrated vision and audio headphones system, following a successful campaign on Kickstarter. Avegant is shipping over 10,000 Founder’s Edition Glyphs in Q1 2016 and the company just launched its new website and online store. Meanwhile former Lucasfilm executive, Richard Kerris, joined Avegant as CMO.
So, the next time you see someone listening to headphones with the headband in front of their eyes, they are probably watching a movie… Because the Glyph is not one of those virtual reality (VR) goggles that a few companies have been demonstrating in shows without any practical applications yet. This a complete sound and vision entertainment system - Avegant calls it “mediawear” - and, contrary to VR applications which are still a few years away, the Glyph as real life uses today. It just looks weird…
According to Avegant, the Glyph was designed with lightweight portability, rich audio and incredibly precise video, offering immersive experiences in an innovative yet familiar design. The Glyph resembles a pair of premium headphones that can also be worn over your eyes to reveal a screen-less display directly inside the headband.
Avegant will be shipping a custom engraved Founder’s Edition first version of the Glyph to its Kickstarter backers in January 2016, followed by fulfilling additional preorders throughout the first quarter for an initial run of over 10,000 units. Continued production of the first edition Glyph will see the product in select retail stores in U.S. and China throughout 2016.
“The Glyph pioneers a truly unique personal theater experience that delivers crystal-clear images, without a traditional screen, and projects it safely onto the retina,” said Avegant CEO Joerg Tewes. “We are excited to begin shipping the first version of this groundbreaking product to our Kickstarter community. The support and feedback of our Kickstarter founders has been, and will continue to be, absolutely essential to the success in the evolution of this product.”
The technology behind the Glyph, Avegant’s patented Retinal Imaging Technology, is the world’s most advanced viewing technology for commercial wearable displays, recreating natural sight to deliver ultra high-quality, pixel-less images. A low-power LED beams the content through a patented optical architecture onto two million microscopic mirrors, which shape and focus the picture and projects it safely onto the retina.
“The Glyph is distinctly not VR, yet you can completely enjoy the feeling of an immersive experience without shutting out the rest of the world around you,” Tewes continued. “Glyph is a personal media device providing users the ability to enjoy long-form content, be it 2D or 3D, in rich detail, with amazing studio-quality sound and support for head tracking and surround sound, which can be experienced using base line video playback apps, or, for a fuller experience, the JauntVR player.”
The Glyph plugs into any HDMI-ready device (e.g., smartphones, tablets, laptops, game consoles, streaming media players, drones) and delivers a ‘plug-and-play’ personal theater experience using existing content, giving the viewer the opportunity to view their personal media while sitting in the best seat of a movie or home theater.
The Glyph also allows peripheral vision above and below the image, allowing consumers to experience any type of media, including immersive 360-degree content and side-by-side 3D, without giving up their own spatial awareness. The Glyph’s imaging technology with low latency eliminates eyestrain, headaches and the physical discomforts often associated with screen viewing. And you don’t need to use your glasses, since the Glyph adjusts to a variety of prescriptions supporting personalized near- and far-sightedness.
Pre-orders of the Glyph are $599 and will have a retail price of $699 on store shelves and online at the time of shipping. The Glyph will be available initially at avegant.com followed by amazon.com in early 2016.
Avegant also revealed that Richard Kerris, former Apple Executive and Lucasfilm CTO, has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer. At Lucasfilm, Kerris managed the technical teams responsible for the technology behind Star Wars, Indiana Jones and many other breakthrough films from the studio, which is now an essential part of the Disney franchise. Kerris remains an active member of the Visual Effects Society.
“The team at Avegant and the innovation behind the Glyph are some of the most exciting things I’ve seen in my career,” says Kerris. “I’m thrilled to be joining this team and to be a part of something that will revolutionize how we experience all kinds of media on the go, from existing audio and video to interactive and immersive 3D content.”
www.avegant.com
