CastAR

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CastAR
Castar 1.jpg
Category smartglasses
Developer Technical Illusion, Inc.[1]
Announced September 2013[2]
Released Developers: 22 November 2014[3]
Consumers: Q4 2015
Price 400 USD (pre-order)[4]
Operating system Windows[5]
Display projector
Resolution 2560x720 pixels[6][7]
Weight less than 100 g[6]
Controls gaze, inertial, controller[6]
Standalone[8]
http://castar.com/

CastAR are augmented reality smartglasses developed by an augmented reality hardware and software US company Technical Illusions, a spin-off company founded by former employees of Valve Corporation Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson in 2013.[9] Apart from the augmented reality features, it can also virtually embed visual elements in the real world based on what the user is looking at (see Main characteristics). The company plans to focus on the social aspects of gaming, and streamlining the experience of using the device so everyone can "open the box, put on the glasses and play." There are separate teams working on virtual experiences for the device, mainly a boardgame, surgery simulation, and a "Star Trek holodeck-like" experience.[10]

The reason the company has chosen augmented reality of full virtual reality is that, by the opinion of the company's CEO, and the co-founder, augmented reality fits in the way people already play. In the interview for Geeks of Doom, the company leadership discussed their idea of "shared personalised environment."' This shared space is a combination of virtual and actual environment around the user but tailored to the individual users. In the sense of an augmented reality boardgame, this means that individual players see the game elements only relevant to them, e.g. a war game's fog of war can be different to different players.[10]

Unlike other devices of this type, CasAR does not project the visual information directly onto the glasses or into the user's eyes, but rather project it onto a retro-reflective sheet which then reflect the image back onto the polarized glasses. The combination of a stereoscopic image and a head-tracking sensor then help to achieve the sense of depth. In addition, the reflective surface features an RFID tracking grid. This allows the items equipped with RFID tags to be recognized by the device and to be used as gaming tokens for example.[6]

The company successfully funded the project via Kickstarter on 15th November 2013, collecting over 1 million USD.[11] The company plans to use the funds to make the device smaller, better looking, and add an augmented reality boardgame to the package.[10] Android creator Andy Rubin's investment company Playground Global invested 15 million USD into CastAR in August 2015.[12]

Main characteristics

CastAR's electronics uncovered with the projectors and a camera between them visible.

The device is an augmented reality head-mounted display that has to be connected to a computer for processing and creating the visual information via an HDMI cable. CastAR is equipped with two 72O pixels resolution 120 Hz micro-projectors built-into the top of the frame of the glasses, one for each eye. These project the visual information on a retro-reflective surface that supplies the role of a gaming board. A camera in between the projectors scans the surface for infrared markers to track the head position of the wearer and the software adjusts the projected image accordingly. The nature of the retro-reflective surface allows the players to view only the visual information relevant to them, and from their own perspective. Custom software that the user has installed on their computer as well as an Altera Cyclone FPGA[13] video processing chip in the device handle creation and processing the visual information.

CastAR features custom controller called Magic Wand that separately tracks its movement in three dimensions allowing the manipulation of the virtual elements which it recognized by its in-built camera in a similar way the glasses do.[14][7] The company also offers a VR clip-on[15] that can be attached to the glasses and acts as a reflective screen by itself, thus eliminating the need of having a retro-reflective surface sheet for the glasses to display virtual elements.[6]

Software development kit is available on the device's discussion forums.[16]

Purpose

The goal of CastAR is to offer accessible and easy to use augmented reality entertainment device. The current goal is to create an augmented reality boardgame that supports multiple players.[17] Future goals entail enterprise, medical and industrial applications.[10]

Company & People

  • David Henkel-Wallace - Chief executive officer
  • Jeri Ellsworth - Chief Hardware Engineer
  • Rick Johnson - Chief Software Engineer

Important Dates

  • September 2013 - CastAR announced[2]
  • 14 October 2013 - Kickstarter campaign begun[18]
  • 15 November 2013 - Kickstarter successfully finished[11]
  • 22 November 2014 - First shipment of developer models[19]

Ethical & Health Issues

There are no ethical or health issues connected to this particular device. For more general issues connected with smartglasses, please see the Smartglasses synopsis.

Enhancement/Therapy/Treatment

Enhancement - The developers of CastAR market the device towards players who wish to enjoy augmented reality entertainment (e.g boardgames enhanced with virtual elements) easily and socially. The device is thus clearly defined as a form of entertainment enhancing piece of technology. However, the team behind CastAR is already looking into educational and medical applications.[10] This means that CastAR could be used in therapy or treatment in the future as well.

Public & Media Impact and Presentation

Public Policy

Related Technologies, Projects or Scientific Research

References

  1. http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=309617231
  2. 2.0 2.1 http://www.gizmag.com/3d-augmented-reality-castar-maker-faire/29149/
  3. MOON, Mariella. CastAR team ships out first pair of AR glasses, more to follow soon. Engadget [online]. 2014, 23 November. Available online at: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/23/castar-shipping/ (Retrieved 10 November 2015))
  4. https://technical-illusions.myshopify.com/
  5. https://community.technicalillusions.com/threads/mac-support.217/#post-2254
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/technicalillusions/castar-the-most-versatile-ar-and-vr-system/description
  7. 7.0 7.1 TAKAHASHI, Dean. Valve spinoff Technical Illusions shows off its Google Glass competitor (interview). VentureBeat [online]. 2014, 7 October. Available online: http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/07/technical-illusions-shows-off-its-developer-version-of-its-castar-augmented-reality-glasses-interview/view-all/ (Retrieved 12 November 2015)
  8. Shows if the device is a standalone wearable computer or if it needs to be connected to a processing unit to function.
  9. http://castar.com/about-us/
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 PAX Prime 2015: castAR Interview. Geeks of Doom [online]. 2015, 9 October. Available online at: http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2015/10/09/pax-prime-2015-castar-interview (Retrieved 12 November 2015))
  11. 11.0 11.1 https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/technicalillusions/created
  12. TAKAHASHI, Dean. Android creator Andy Rubin invests $15M in CastAR to build augmented reality gaming glasses. VentureBeat [online]. 2015, 19 August. Available online at: http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/19/castar-raises-15m-from-android-creator-andy-rubin-to-build-augmented-reality-gaming-glasses/ (Retrieved 12 November 2015)
  13. http://hackaday.com/2015/04/05/castar-teardown/
  14. https://technical-illusions.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/wand-controller
  15. https://technical-illusions.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/ar-vr-clip-on
  16. https://community.technicalillusions.com/forums/software-sdk/
  17. CastAR Main Page http://castar.com/
  18. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/technicalillusions/castar-the-most-versatile-ar-and-vr-system/updates
  19. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/technicalillusions/castar-the-most-versatile-ar-and-vr-system/posts/1060126