The company calls this transparent computing. Chairman and Chief His Creative Officer Richie Etwaru calls this “his Z axis of computing,” bringing depth and dimension to the height and width of our flat screen his computer. His Mobeus technology, a New Jersey-based start-up that raised his $24 million in funding from Accenture Ventures, is being used by a major aerospace company to sell his 40,000 units of his Oculus Quest VR headset to Meta. It was charming and mature enough to cancel a large order.
why?
Mobeus’ new Airglass2 offers many of the interactive, engaging, social and haptic experiences of a mixed or virtual reality headset in a hardware-free package. Basically, any standard regular computer, laptop, or monitor with a camera becomes a potential shared 3D space, using no more hardware than it originally shipped from the manufacturer.
Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Richie Etwaru on stage at TechBeach Retreat … [+]
I recently saw a live demo of Airglass2 at the TechBeach Retreat conference in Jamaica and had the opportunity to interview Etwaru, who is also the co-founder of the company, shortly afterwards.
“It works on any operating system, any computer, and any kind of media (movies, PowerPoint documents, PDF files, etc.),” says Etwaru. “All tech was X and Y…it was always X and Y. If you understand tech, this is the tech Z index. Now you can program the Z index.”
X and Y are the horizontal and vertical directions of the computer screen. Z is the space in front of and behind the laptop, which Etwaru says is his tech his map and programmable space.
This means that when you’re working with a colleague, you can bring your head closer to zoom in on screen details just like you would in the real world. This means you can look at your co-worker’s side by moving your head as if your screen were a window in the real world. It also means that 3D objects (molecules, building blueprints, engine components, new conference booths) can be created and manipulated in solo or shared spaces. His one of the apps Mobeus created takes the movements of a dancer, mapping sitars to shoulders, bongos to hips, and other instruments to different parts of the body so that you can create music just by moving. Did.
It’s basically what we’ve seen in the Meta and Microsoft HoloLens demos, and the headsetless Magic Leap demo.
And it could be a game changer for several reasons.
First, there is the cost.
At $500 for the commercial version, 40,000 Oculus Quests would cost $20 million. Choosing a HoloLens, the new Meta Quest Pro, or another high-end virtual or mixed reality headset can triple or quintuple that.
More importantly, it’s convenient.
I have an Oculus Quest 2 and my biggest challenge is finding time to use it. As I said to Mr. Etwar, I will use it for the first time in a while, so if I want to use it, I will charge it first. Assuming it’s charged, make sure you’re in a safe place with plenty of space, put it on, accept that you’re blocking out the world, make sure your controller is registered, and use After launching the app with .
It’s a far cry from pulling out your phone with it instantly powered on. Also, in a work scenario, just manipulating his 3D objects in his 3D space on an existing screen on his desk is completely different.
This will show the canceled Oculus Quest Mega-Order.
“I can’t name the person or the company, but they are in the aerospace industry,” says Etwaru. “The aerospace industry is very complex with a lot of machining to fit and a lot of data that needs to be visualized before being put on a rocket or plane.”
The company was using computer-aided design to visualize the components and how they fit together, but wanted to make it more immersive and interactive.
“We demonstrated the technology and were told to cancel the headset order,” Etwaru told me. “We’re moving in this direction. Even if it takes him two or three years to get there, we’re better than what we get out of the headset.”
Another big advantage?
User does not get sick.
VR sickness literally now Those who suffer from it may experience nausea and vomiting, nausea, cold sweats, dizziness, or headaches. Personally, he’s not prone to VR sickness, but he does get nauseous from time to time after a few VR fitness sessions.
Etwaru says it’s not a problem with Mobeus’ technology because it’s in real space.
“When we did some psychological research on this technology, we were trying to figure out: Why would people vomit with their headsets on?” says Etoile. “Why am I nauseous? And then I found out that I have an accelerometer built into my body.”
If what you see is out of sync with your body’s accelerometer, you risk feeling VR sickness. But with Mobeus technology, when you lean over to zoom or lean back to expand your field of view, you are literally doing it with your body, and what you see on the screen is physical. consistent with changes.
Result: No VR sickness.
So how does Mobeus accomplish this without any additional hardware? will be split.
“It was built with bare metal,” Etwaru told me. “We don’t need any permissions on the computer. We don’t need any specific permissions. We sit between the camera and the video. And we process the frame buffer off the camera and put it into the video card to create it.” Rewrite the framebuffer just before reaching it.”
The results are impressive, as you can see in the video at the beginning of this article. And for businesses that need 3D interactivity for employee sign-on, this might be enough.
Mobeus just came out of stealth in November of this year and believes it can provide the right amount of 3D immersion while still keeping people grounded in the real world. This is probably a good productivity bet.
“I’m not ready to connect. I think there are a lot of people who aren’t ready to connect.
But he wants tactile manipulation of virtual objects and spaces.
“I think the next generation is saying they want to get their hands on technology.”
