Spacetop AR laptop canceled and switched to Windows glasses software
Earlier this year I tried out a Chromebook-style keyboard connected to AR glasses called Spacetopcreated by a startup called Sightful, which projected a virtual screen with apps floating through the room. It used AR glasses as a display instead of a laptop screen. As a hardware product it seemed ahead of its time.
Now Sightful’s founders tell me their augmented reality laptop won’t arrive at all. The company canceled its plans for the device, emailing people who had pre-ordered the $1,900 Spacetop G1 and offering to refund the $100 deposit.
Instead, Sightful is shifting to a software product for newer Windows laptops that will offer a similar AR glasses-connected experience. It will run Windows apps and connect to Windows’ CoPilot AI features.
Is the AR laptop dream dead? Not quite. Now the laptop you already own may be ready for augmented reality.
AR glasses offer more privacy than a laptop because no one can see your screen.
With AR, Sightful means running multiple Windows apps on a glasses-based display. What you see in the glasses are a number of windows floating in the air. Not everyone needs that, but in some ways it can be very useful. It can be a travel tool that focuses on privacy because no one can see your screen.
By expanding your computer’s displays, much like you can do with a Quest headset or Apple Vision ProSightful keeps the field very practical. As app capabilities evolve, the company also wants to be able to run full 3D AR apps.
The future of AR laptops is Windows AI
When I spoke with Sightful founders Tamir Berliner and Tomer Kahan, they explained that the reason for the shift to a software-based product comes down to two letters: AI. Microsoft’s new emphasis on system-wide artificial intelligence in Windows and dedicated AI-optimized laptop chipsets with neural processing units could mean that connected AR glasses will work a lot better on Windows PCs.
The upgraded hardware could take advantage of AI that wouldn’t have been available on the Spacetop’s custom Chrome-like web-based device. According to Berliner and Kahan, using AR glasses using the special NPU AI processor can be done without reducing battery life, something that was not easily achievable before.
Microsoft’s Windows CoPilot Plus PCs that use ARM-based processors seem more in line with where Spacetop went with its own Qualcomm-based processors on its Spacetop hardware, but in a more powerful form.
Check this out: Hands-on with Spacetop the AR laptop
‘The moment we saw it [Microsoft’s] announcements about AI computers – that everyone’s computers will be AI computers in the coming years – it made perfect sense to say that we can help the public sooner and faster than if we built our own integrated solution,” they told me . .
According to Berliner and Kahan, the Windows-based software will be available by the end of the year, but they haven’t told me the price yet. Sightful’s software for Windows will initially only work with specific models of Xreal’s AR display glassesthat were permanently connected to Spacetop’s G1 hardware package. On Windows they connect via USB-C. I asked about the possibilities of making this setup work with other screen glasses such as those from Lenovo and TCL, but that is not in the immediate plans at the moment.
The original Spacetop laptop worked with Xreal’s AR glasses connected to the device. The new software version uses the same glasses connected to a Windows laptop via USB-C.
The move to AI, like many other technology categories, has been a common theme in augmented and virtual reality companies in recent years. Spacetop’s AI focus comes down to the recognition that what’s happening now on computers is big enough that anything Spacetop makes for business-oriented work should also be able to work with today’s AI tools. On Windows PCs, you can run the laptop’s screen at the same time, or darken the screen and only use displays with glasses for privacy.
Sightful’s founders have no plans to work with Macs yet, but told me “we have our ears open.” The company also plans to look at other ways to use the software it develops for non-laptop devices, including TVs and phones, but no further plans have been announced yet.
Berliner and Kahan see a lot of future interactions between AI and XR, and this could change how Spacetop feels in the future. Demos I saw on Spacetop’s hardware looked more like a series of small floating 2D app windows side by side in a virtual curved screen. Future versions would allow more 3D layouts and full XR-style apps through Windows, they told me.
Of course, glasses like Xreal’s can already connect to Windows laptops to mirror the screen, and companies like Lenovo also have PC solutions to add extra windows to glasses. Ultimately, Sightful still has to prove that its software can connect laptops and that glasses can bring something new and useful to the table.
Microsoft has already made its own mixed reality spin on software, through the Hololens 2 and moving away from Windows-based VR headsets. Instead, Microsoft is connecting many of its services and apps to Meta’s Quest headsets, and will thus run 3D apps through Windows – although you’ll need a larger Quest headset for now as the system won’t work with a smaller, more portable pair of glasses.
Sightful’s AR-based laptop software appears to have a head start on the future of future peripherals and apps. Apple’s Vision Pro works well with Macs, but is a lot larger and more expensive. The next Spacetop solution could be very interesting, but I’ll have to wait until the software comes out to try it in Windows form.
