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Lumus DK-50 product shot

Whether or not lofty sales projections for Oculus and other VR devices come true, at that place is no question that the availability of a consummate developer kit from Oculus has helped kickstart the industry. Until now, Augmented Reality (AR) has been lacking a well-idea-out programmer platform that challenged the capabilities of VR. Moving ridge guide provider Lumus and software developer InfinityAR have partnered to provide exactly that. The Lumus DK-50 programmer kit will include not only the DK-50 AR glasses, but likewise a version of InfinityAR's markerless AR tracking organization.

The DK-50 breaks new footing in AR

When I starting time demoed a Lumus wave-guide-equipped pair of spectacles terminal year, I was very impressed by not just the realistic projection of objects into my field of view, simply the very wide field of view. It is like to (and some speculate the aforementioned as) that found in the original Microsoft HoloLens prototype (though more recent versions seem to have a narrower field of view). This is huge for AR, as existing devices force yous to work or focus on only a modest surface area — typically 22 to 26 degrees. The 40 degree FOV provided by Lumus makes a very tangible difference.

While not exactly inconspicuous I found the DK-50 light enough to imagine wearing all day

While non exactly camouflaged, I institute the DK-50 low-cal enough to imagine wearing all day

Designed in concert with InfinityAR, the DK-50 too includes everything needed to support self-contained, markerless, AR tracking. Information technology has a 9-axis IMU that includes both an accelerometer and magnetometer for motion tracking, twin 4MP cameras for stereo-vision-based object tracking, and two 720p optical engines for a disarming visual experience (Lumus expects to bump this up to 1080p later this twelvemonth). Each optical engine consists of Lumus'southward patented Lite-Guide Optical Element (LOE), a reflective waveguide, and a Micro Display Pod, essentially a miniature projector. The DK-50 is expected to be available in Q2 this year, and while pricing has not been finalized, Lumus expects it to exist around $3,000 including the needed software.

Tin they pull it off?

Information overlaid on the world around you is one of the applications most cited as a great use of Augmented RealityWhile you may not accept heard of Lumus, they have been providing optical solutions for AR applications in industry and defense for xv years, so the engineering science itself is proven. Infinity AR is a newer histrion, and I retrieve the acceptance of the DK-50 kit will depend in large part on how much performance developers tin can go out of their software running on the Android-powered Qualcomm Snapdragon in the hardware. The demos I saw looked good, and certainly good plenty to develop with, but every bit Oculus has found, it can exist a long route from something developers will piece of work with and something that consumers will be happy to make a role of their everyday life.