Sightful has made the significant decision to cancel its Spacetop G1 project, a move that has prompted the company to initiate refunds for all preorder deposits. The Spacetop G1 was envisioned as a groundbreaking screenless laptop, designed to integrate seamlessly with Xreal Air 2 Ultra AR glasses, and was slated to retail at ,900. This innovative device was to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and would have operated on Sightful’s proprietary Spacetop OS.
Transitioning to Software Solutions
In an email to all customers who had preordered the Spacetop G1, Sightful confirmed that it would refund the 0 deposit. Furthermore, the company has announced that it will no longer be shipping any hardware related to the project, as initially reported by CNET.
Rather than pursuing hardware development, Sightful is pivoting towards creating AR system software that will enable the use of Xreal Air 2 Ultra glasses with Windows laptops equipped with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). This shift means that devices utilizing Qualcomm Snapdragon, Intel Core Ultra, or AMD Ryzen AI chipsets will be compatible with the new software, which will carry the Spacetop name and extend the spatial computing capabilities of Spacetop OS.
The new software aims to transform the user experience by allowing Windows applications to be projected into a virtual space, moving beyond the limitations of traditional screen displays. Users will simply need to connect the Xreal glasses via USB-C to their laptops, which will provide both power and processing capabilities, ensuring a seamless integration.
Currently, Xreal glasses can display a Windows laptop’s screen as a fixed virtual monitor. However, the upcoming Spacetop software promises enhanced functionality, including six degrees of freedom (6DoF) positional tracking and the ability to manage multiple Windows applications in a spatial environment, breaking free from the conventional screen-bound experience.
Founders Tamir Berliner and Tomer Kahan, both former executives at Magic Leap, explained that this strategic shift was influenced by the advancements in laptop technology. The introduction of NPUs in laptops enables them to support 6DoF tracking without sacrificing performance or battery life. This approach not only broadens the potential market but also allows users to utilize their existing laptops or those they were already planning to purchase, rather than investing in a single-purpose device.
Despite the innovative direction, challenges remain, particularly concerning the field of view. As highlighted in previous reviews of similar AR technologies, users may find that they need to adjust their head position frequently to view all floating windows, especially at closer distances. This tradeoff between transparent AR and opaque headsets with passthrough capabilities continues to be a focal point in the development of spatial computing solutions.
The Spacetop software for Windows is anticipated to launch by the end of this year, exclusively for laptops equipped with an NPU, which Microsoft refers to as Copilot+ PCs.
