(Credit: Sightful)
Spacetop, a radical new laptop that abandons the traditional screen for augmented reality glasses, is now on sale.
Laptop developer Sightful plans on selling the product for $2,150 on its website starting today, after offering it through a selective early access program that involved an application process. That program was successful, so Sightful wants to make a limited supply of its early access units available to the public, it tells PCMag.
(Credit: Sightful)“The feedback we received [during the early access program] has directly informed the refinement of our software, helping us get it to the point where we are ready to open up Spacetop to the broader public so they can experience the next stage in the evolution of laptops and the value that Augmented Reality can bring to their everyday lives,” says Sightful CEO Tamir Berliner.
The Spacetop, which debuted in May, displays a 100-inch screen through a pair of augmented reality glasses. The setup is certainly unconventional since the laptop abandons the screen entirely. But in our brief hands-on, we were pleasantly surprised to find it easy to use; no need to learn any new AR controls.
All the user has to do is put on the glasses. The rest should be intuitive since the Spacetop operates exactly like any other PC, requiring the use of a mouse and trackpad. The only difference is that the visuals are displayed in the AR glasses. Any digital icons and windows you see are overlaid on what's actually in front of you.
The Spacetop might appeal to early adopters interested in an innovative way to interact with a computer. That said, the early access unit isn’t a typical PC. In terms of specs, the Spacetop uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip, features 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of storage, while running a custom version of Android. Expect the battery life to last for around five hours.