To say that there are numerous competitors to Google Glass would be quite the understatement. French company Laster Technologies is the latest to try their hand in the tech eyewear market with its SeeThru eyewear. The thing is, they only have 14 hours left, and a lot of money to raise.
Announced as the “first genuine augmented reality consumer wireless eyewear,” the SeeThru uses an 800 x 600 pixel display with a 25 degree diagonal field of view, roughly twice the display window of Google Glass. The main difference is that, while Google Glass puts information on the far upper-right periphery of your vision, SeeThru puts information right in the middle, lowering eye strain.
The idea here is to present contextual information that overlays on top of the real world in specific scenarios. For example, if you are looking at a historical landmark, an overlay is automatically presented, showing you when it was built and how far away it is from you.
Laster also wants you to use the SeeThru for many other heart-destroying activities, such as sailing, handgliding, skateboarding, and flying airplanes. According to Laster CEO Zile Liu, though, the company doesn’t expect you to use it for every minute of your day. “People aren’t ready to wear augmented reality glasses every hour of every day,” concedes Liu. “It takes time to get used to these kind of glasses.” Even so, for segmented situations, the SeeThru can be worn “for a new experience.”
If Liu wants you to have that experience, he’s likely disappointed by how the Kickstarter campaign for the SeeThru is going. With 14 and a half hours to go, it has only garnered roughly $105,000 with a $300,000 goal. Were it to be funded, you could have your hands on a SeeThru as early as this month and as late as June, with a $350 price tag for the cheapest model. Alas, it may not come to pass. If Kickstarter projects aren’t fully funded, all money is refunded.
