Atheer Glasses, the Best Way to Experience the Future

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Maarouf El Assaad
Feb 12 2014
Startups
Atheer Glasses, the Best Way to Experience the Future
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Atheer Labs will launch smart glasses that enables you to touch the digital world, with an immersive 3D display that creates a vision that combines real world with the digital world.  The company aims at producing two models, promoted on Indiegogo.  Atheer One, the consumer version which connects to smart devices via Bluetooth, will be available in April.  Dragoneye, a bigger, more comprehensive model that works as a stand alone device aimed at developers, will be available in December.  The company's video explains the promising possibilities for the future of wearable technology and 3D smart glasses that captured the attention of thousands.

Future glasses from Atheer labs


"When I was doing research on cancer in UCLA-Berkley, I had to move 17 computers to sustain research.  Mobility and ease-of-use became a big issue.  That's where the idea of a phone capable of projecting a big 3D display came from," said Soulaiman Itani, Atheer CEO.  "After a lot of research and studies about the situation of the market and the technology, it was obvious that a much better experience could be developed by integrating this technology into smart glasses.  I bought two Android phones and started developing the basic technology.  And when I created a 3D button that changes colors from blue to red when pressed, I wrote a business plan and headed to Silicon Valley."

During our interview with him, Itani explained the expected challenges when developing a promising device such as Atheer's smart glasses:  "To show information and images that you can see through a pair of glasses, and interact with them through gesture control - this opens a new world of possible interactions and model views for the digital world.  That means we have an opportunity, and a challenge, to develop and create a user interface/experience for this new type of device that we're developing," he said.  "To make the viewing experience as immersive as possible, we use the latest display, battery, sensor and more technologies to build glasses that make for a vibrant, live display.  In order to do that, you have to overcome several special challenges to make the device durable and credible enough to capture consumers attention and acceptance," Itani added.

Atheer glasses features

·  Atheer smart glasses are very light weight at only 75 grams, and was built using latest optical technology to provide a viewing experience as wide and immersive as possible.  The lightness of the device allows consumers to use the device for long hours without discomfort.

·  The interactive display is see through, which makes displaying information and images a part of viewing the real world.  Using this technology, you can see all those visual elements around a place you are in such as a tourist attraction, or driving directions right in front of you, without the need to look away from the display to get the information you need.

·  The company has developed a special gesture control system so the users would get the maximum possible accuracy with the minimum possible CPU and battery power.

·  The device is integrated with Vuforia and Unity so developers can use their available tools, in order to develop suitable apps for the new platform.

·  The smart glasses use Android OS, which means everything, including apps and sensors, was developed to suit low power usage and long battery life.  This means the device can work with all Android apps that have been developed over the years.

"Atheer One" and "Dragoneye"

The company will offer two models of the device.  The main difference between "Atheer One" and "Atheer Developer Kit" is that "Atheer One" will connect to your Android devices, whether it is a smartphone or tablet, whereas "Dragoneye" has its own Android device embedded.  That's why "Atheer One" weighs less and looks better, since it uses other devices CPU and batteries to run all apps.  Developer tools, on the other hand, come with additional features, so developers can connect peripherals and other devices quickly to create and test new apps.

If you think Google glasses will be the most interesting device, you might be disappointed, because, apparently, a new type of wearable devices is only starting, and because Atheer Labs was able to develop a device that would open a new world of interactions to combine our real life with our digital life in a way we couldn't imagine before.