As promised, the guys over at Avegant have launched the Kickstarter campaign for their DLP based portable media HMD the Avegant Glyph.
Rapid Rise
It’s only been a few months since Ben Lang clapped his eyes on an early development prototype utilising a brand new generation of portable display technology. Reporting from Engadget: Expand, Ben described the images he witnessed while wearing the HMD thus:
..it was one of the most vivid and natural things I’ve ever seen on any display. The scene before me looked incredibly real, even though the field of view is not at immersive levels.
Shortly after this hands-on, Avegant launched images of it’s vision for the consumer version of the device. The Glyph was to be a combo media viewing device that incorporated a pair of high-quality headphones and a drop down visor housing the stereo display. It was a bold move in terms of industrial design. We were intrigued and met up with the team a couple of weeks ago at CES 2014. We were one of the first people to try the new prototype and despite some reservations around what Avegant termed ‘human factors’ (ergonomics essentially), it was pretty
clear the design had enormous potential. That killer display was of course present, but now joined by a new set of mid to high-end, custom crafted headphones. Here are some of my thoughts on the CES demo:
Colours too are incredibly vibrant, natural and, ignoring stereoscopy, have a three dimensional quality to them. It feels as if you’re gazing at an open window in a darkened room as light spills into your eyes in a way that feels extremely natural.
..and on those custom headphones:
I listened to various audio tracks and bass felt taut and fast whilst low frequency response still low enough to give depth. Vocals were transparent with no sibilants (despite that titanium) and good stereo imaging was evident.
$250k Goal Smashed Within 24 Hours
Avegant launched their Kickstarter on January 22nd with backer tiers starting at $5 heading all the way up to $9999 with those pledging above $499 receiving a beta version of the Glyph – due for delivery December 2014.
Before we even had a chance to get a story up on the site announcing the Kickstarter, Avegant had already blown through their $250k goal and on their way to $300k. Clearly the unique design has struck a chord with gadget hounds around the world and Avegant’s research and gut instinct about the need and appeal for such a device were dead on.
So far, no stretch goals have been announced yet, but with only 1 day of a 30 day campaign complete we very much doubt the team at Avegant won’t have something up their sleeves.
We’d wish Avegant luck but as it’s clear they’re not in any need of that we’ll simply say that you can reach the Kickstarter page here and that we’re very much look forward to seeing how the next prototype shapes up.
What do you think of the Avegant Glyph and the idea of this sort of portable media device? Would you buy it? Are you backing the Kickstarter? Let us know in the comments below.