Meta make AR glasses. Think Google Glass, with holograms you can interact with, alter and share with other people.
Their website will explain it better than I can, but here is a video of me trying the Meta 1. Its a more basic prototype of the glasses, and they now have the Meta Pro available. It has a much wider field of view, weighs less and has a higher resolution.
The image on the computer screen is the augmented layer I’m seeing. Where the black background is, I'm in fact just seeing the normal visual scene, like wearing glasses. I can see and interact with the world around me, but I have an augmented layer of objects that I can move and place in 3D space. They interact with the world too. If I put them on a table they will sit there, if I throw them at a wall they will hit it and fall down. Meta knows the laws of physics.
They have a number of broad areas for use, including:
Information consumption: wearing Meta at home, augmenting and interacting with certain parts of your house. For example, downloading a holographic Jamie Oliver to sit on your kitchen worktop and guide you through his favourite recipe.
Communication: wearing Meta as part of a design or construction team. Each member of the team can see the same thing as the others and a 3D interactive model can be downloaded and placed on the table. You can then each manipulate and change the model in real space in front of each other to convey ideas or plans. The applications for disaster relief or military strategy are also huge.
Simulation: a ‘pioneer’ company is currently developing for Meta at their offices. A group of Stanford physicians is developing a simulator for medical training. Using the glasses and 3D patients modelled from real footage, doctors and medical students can simulate and execute any medical scenario.
Meta are truly at the forefront of computing. Their goal is to do away with screens altogether and bring the computer into the real world.
Here is the moment we have all been waiting for. After months of anticipation, we are happy to announce the first official workshop structured by Steve Mann, Steve Feiner & Jayse Hansen. We are inviting you to be among the first in the world to develop with our latest technology and have your applications used as examples to show off the possibilities of meta.
Get your Golden Ticket. Workshop Applications Open
We will be opening our doors again to our developers, selectively inviting a special few to have us work with them in building their applications on the meta platform.
These workshops will be the foundations of partnerships. We will work closely with you in building key applications that will then be demonstrated around the world as examples of what meta can do. Many of the greats have already climbed on board to create apps that will stretch the imagination. We are looking for the best and most innovative teams to work with us to build the future.
The Pioneers Program will include:
Meeting Meron Gribetz, CEO of meta.
Getting your hands on the future with a highly sought after pre production meta 1 prototype fresh off our 3D printer.
Extra early access to the SDK.
Experience the magic of metaPro
Training from our engineers on our SDK and hardware.
Time with the some of the best professors in AR: Including Prof. Steve Mann from the University of Toronto, Prof. Steve Feiner from Columbia University, Prof. Stefano Baldassi, Stanford University.
Guaranteed position in our first official meta hackathon!
Introduction to the whole meta team!
Development time and assistance from our engineering team while building your application.
Daily lunch and social nights with the meta team.
Promotion of your application. (We will work with all finished applications to make promotional video, showing off your hard work)
Off-site development assistance from our engineers.
Tour of the MetaHQ. Where dreams become reality, and some realities become dreams.
Experience
The workshop will be a professional hands-on experience with our hardware. On the first day, we will help you gain an in-depth understanding of the SDK through a series of lectures and presentations by our Research and Software team, followed by hands-on activities with the SDK.
The second day will be focused on building your applications. With the assistance of our developers, we will help your bring your ideas to life.
Participant Objectives
Create a stunning application utilizing the Meta-1 Augmented Reality Developer Kit and accompanying SDK.
Complete a working prototypes of your application.
Resources Provided
You will be provided with early access to a meta1 hardware developer kit and accompanying SDK. Along with these components, participants will be offered onsite workspace at the Meta Headquarters, which is located just outside Palo Alto, California.
Live training through a series of in-person workshops and web-based assistance is included as well. The Meta engineering team can provide integration help if needed.
To top it off, all of your art direction and UI elements can be guided by our very own Jayse Hansen, the creator of some of the most iconic cinematic graphical interfaces, including those in Iron Man and The Avengers. Guest speakers, including Professor Steve Mann of University of Toronto, popularly known as “father of wearable computing” by The Guardian, Professor Steve Feiner of Columbia University, an early pioneer of augmented reality and Professor Stefano Baldassi of Stanford University, a professor leading researcher in visual perception.
Dates
The Workshops will be two days long, held Sunday–Monday May 4–5, 11–12, 18–19, and 25–26.
Requirements
1–3 Developers with experience using Unity3D.
A well defined app idea.
A pre order of the meta1 developer kit or metaPro.
Application Process
To apply for the Meta Pioneers Program, send an email to [email protected]. Your email should include:
Your company name and location/s.
A brief description of your company.
Your application idea that you wish to develop
Both short term and long term goals
How your application utilizes the following features of the SDK. It does not need to utilize all features, but at least one.
Hand tracking with natural interaction techniques such as grab, point, pinch and swipe. (actions you would use on real world objects).
Holographic UI components. Use of holographic buttons or elements.
3D Holographic display. 3D content your application will include.
Surface tracking. Being able to attach virtual content to real world objects.
The number of developers you will have working on the project.
Next steps
We will be selecting companies to participate in these exciting workshops and sending Golden Tickets to the lucky winners on Tuesday April 15, 2014.
The suspense is terrible. I hope it'll last. ~ Wonka
The Pioneering begins. Kickstarter Workshop Complete
Congratulations to the first meta Pioneers to complete our workshops! The Pioneers included Digital Iris, Decimal Labs and Salesforce. The first day, the teams had their first exposure to the SDK and started building their apps. On the second day, they were able to build prototypes of their applications with over 12 hours alongside our engineers.
Videos of some of the applications, along with more details on each of the teams and their applications, are coming soon.
The first meta Pioneers. Isabel, Nathan, Seth, Meron, Wolfgang, Spencer, Ben, Brennan, Alex, Tim
Product update—Get your hands on early prototypes!
The first Pioneers have already had their hands on the last design of the dev kits. These are the latest prototypes fresh off our 3D printers, which will be given out to the most promising Pioneers in the Workshop.
Tooling is currently underway. We are visiting our manufacturers in the coming weeks and will have photos of the dev kits in development soon!
Latest prototype of the meta1 developer kit. Without FOV enhancer.
Latest prototype of the meta1 developer kit. With FOV enhancer.
The FOV upgrade is an addon that slides in and out of the meta 1 device, allowing you to easily switch between different sizes depending on which you want to use.
Shipping Status
Our CTO is currently meeting with some of our manufacturers in Shenzhen. We will have a more detailed update on shipping in the next week when he returns at http://blog.spaceglasses.com.
We are looking forward to hearing about your applications.
I know what you're thinking: They can't be doing what they're doing. But they are. They have to. ~ Wonka
Shot the same style as our metaPro launch video; we give you all of the angles and video feeds you need to see how the developer kit looks, feels, and works!
Our developers have been working hard to show you just some of the possibilities with the developer kit. In this video our Unity Engineers, Joseph and Neb, take you through our Sculpting and Space demos which show off our hand tracking.
Composite View 1
We will have a simple system to create your own video just like this in order to show off your applications. In our developer portal, we are constructing tutorials on how to make your own videos, as well as how to utilize the SDK and features!
Composite View 2
.
Shipping update
Our CTO is currently meeting with some of our manufacturers in Shenzhen. We will have a more detailed update on shipping in the next week when he returns.
We’ve been approached by some of the largest companies in the world (some of them our big kickstarter backers) to develop a high powered professional product.
We worked on this secret project that is now the metaPro, knowing the developments in this new technology would mean upgrades to the meta1 Developer edition for you as well. We’re please to announced the MetaPro, an ultra high-end professional augmented reality product which is a sign of where our form factor is heading in the long term. The R&D that led to the larger field of view (FOV) in the metaPro has allowed us to bring a much larger FOV to you in the meta Developer as a free upgrade. Nothing else is available on the market with this kind of technology. The professional team has requested more features in the SDK and those will all go to you as our developers as well. You now have a team of 35 highly talented individuals working around the clock to build your product. This is a huge leap from the 6 people who brought the Kickstarter to you, so you can expect big things.
Introducing the Ultra High-end metaPro Glasses: The first early adopter device for consumers. We have a new video shows a recording of our software as seen through the meta pro glasses. Featuring a 15 times displayable area of Google Glass and superior materials including Carl Zeiss lenses. This device will be the new form factors the end-users will be running your 3D augmented reality applications in the future.
We greatly appreciate your support in backing us through the kickstarter and would like to offer you $700 offer for the metaPro purchases.
Meta 1 Developer Kit Progress
We have been through exciting times in the company, working on both projects, meta 1 and metaPro. Here is a quick summary of our upcoming working progress of the last few months:
Hardware upgrades
Stockpiles
Manufacturing time & delivery
Latest working prototypes Software partnerships
See us live!
Latest press
FAQ
Company expansion
After launching our Kickstarter in April, we were blown away by almost doubling our goal! So we decided to double our efforts! We’ve been iterating on the design to ensure you get something very special and you’re very happy with what you receive. We have made a significant upgrade to the form factor, upgrading the design for all orders multiple times. Sales were much stronger than expected resulting in a complete sell out of the meta1 and opening up a lot of resources to make the product even better.
Free Upgrade #1 - Form Factor
To improve the ergonomics, we devoted substantial resources to develop a new industrial design, and upgraded every previous order free of charge in October. After many different iterations that many of you have been following we have presented you with continually more impressive designs. We want this to be a product you can comfortably wear while developing all day. After feedback from our earliest iterations we saw some room for improvement in the ergonomics of the device. To solve this, we hired Rusty Reed as a special contractor to work on ergonomics and production line. Rusty has 20 years experience building glasses for Native, Orbus and Nike, and has contributed major improvements to product design and tooling to ensure a smooth production run.
Free Upgrade #2 - The Field of View (FOV)
We have nearly doubled the Field Of View (FOV). After the significant improvements to ergonomics, we focused on our next biggest feedback point: the FOV. After months of new optics iterations, we found a solution! We can now provide your developer edition with a 35 degrees FOV. This FOV increase gives you 12 times the viewable area of Google Glass and almost double what the previous design had! This will allow you to design your applications with a device that is close to what consumers will be using.
All developer editions pre ordered in the past and now will now have upgraded FOV and the upgraded ergonomic design at no extra expense.
FOV upgrade on developer edition to be shipped.
Manufacturing & delivery plans
Due to our groundbreaking new designs, the delivery timeline has been lengthened by a few months. The glasses will begin shipping this May. We want to share with you the inside details of what we are doing to bring you the future of computing by May 2014 and why we have determined it is necessary to delay the shipping.
gantt chart from beginning of October to January.
After our overwhelming demand for the developer edition, we have been incredibly busy designing the future. We are committed to making sure you we designed the highest quality glasses in the global market, as soon as possible!
In October, we created new technology for a bigger field of view that previously wasn’t viable. By mid-October we had some working prototypes in our labs. We successfully validated the prototypes and after weighing up the pros and cons for the benefit of our customers made a decision to change course at no additional cost.
We’ve finished finalizing the conceptual design. Now the conceptual designs are turned into mechanical CAD file designs used for prototyping. These files are used for building prototypes, testing the prototypes and redesigning them until we validate that all the parts are correct. Once the CAD files are finalized we give those to the manufacturer to create the tooling plans for the injection molding tools. The tooling designs are completed and the injection molding tools are built. A very short run of parts of each tool is done. These are our “first shots”. Our first shots are reviewed for accuracy. Once perfecting everything and ensuring the tools accurately the tools are finished and production parts can than be made preparing your glasses for shipment.
Prototypes!
We have a world class team of industrial designers, production line specialists and optics engineers who have put their heads together to redesign the physical product that will be the future of computing. But don’t just take our word for it, check them out!
CAD files for printing next iteration with optical upgrade.
working prototype
working prototype
new wireframes being worked on by our designer Martin
Close up of new wireframes
Software Partnerships
Our business team has been working just as hard as our tech team to ensure you get the most out of this amazing opportunity. Each shipment of the meta glasses will include a software package totalling thousands of dollars! This includes the iisu SDK, our own SDK & a special partnership that will be announced in the near future that so many of you have been wanting to see!
Stock Piles
Hardware stock has arrived is ready for production! Our base hardware has arrived: we have all our optics units on site, and all the depth cameras to build the systems to fulfill our orders.
Base hardware stock 1
Base hardware stock2
Base hardware stock3
Latest press
Robert Scoble
“This startup proves that Silicon Valley is still doing real tech. Meet the future of wearable computers. ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuMv29nKo2k
TechCrunch
“The Best Of CES 2014“
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/12/the-best-of-ces-2014/
Engadget
“The MetaPro glasses do some pretty amazing things with augmented reality” http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/10/metapro
The Verge
“Meta wants to augment your world with the 'Iron Man' interface"
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/11/5297162/meta-developing-iron-man-interface-augmented-reality-glasses
LaptopMag
“Meta Pro AR Goggles Kick Google’s Glass"
http://blog.laptopmag.com/meta-pro-glasses-hands-on
CNET
“High up in the hills of Portola Valley, Calif., west of Stanford University, a band of engineers and designers are creating the future.” http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57615671-76/metas-$3000-3d-glasses-look-to-an-augmented-reality-future/
DVICE
“metaPro augmented reality shades will turn you into Tony Stark“
http://www.dvice.com/2013-12-17/metapro-augmented-reality-shades-will-turn-you-tony-stark
FAQ
A lot of you have noticed and taken advantage of the live chat when it is on our website, spaceglasses.com. We would like to answer publicly some of the most common questions.
Will I be getting the developer edition or metaPro?
If you have ordered the developer edition since our first sales in August 2013, you are getting the new and improved developer edition, shown on the top of this page, with an ergonomic, sleek design and much larger FOV upgrade. We greatly appreciate your support in ordering the developer edition of meta1 and would like to offer you a $200 reduction in price toward the metaPro.
metaPro $200 reduction code: pro-developer
What is the difference between metaPro and the developer edition?
metaPro is an ultra high end early adopter device shipping with finished applications.
The developer edition is an early release of meta1 for developers to start building apps with the most advanced augmented reality hardware as soon as possible. Key differences are a larger FOV, much lighter-weight product, much broader array of sensors providing enhanced synchronization between digital content and the real world and a distilled sensor capability allowing us to deliver an even more ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing design.
How is this different than Google Glass?
meta is true see-through augmented reality. It features a binocular display and an array of sensors to perceive the real world and integrate it with the digital world, including a depth sensor, rgb camera, and IMU. We create the Iron Man-like interface with a natural form of input and display, allowing the world around you to become the computing interface. At half the price, we offer double the technology. Google Glass with the Mirror API is not true augmented reality. It is a notification machine - a monocle display that does not recognize real world objects or support 3D objects and 3D interfaces.
What is in the SDK?
Featureless surface detection, multi-marker detection and tracking, feature-based tracking, featureless surface morphing, real-time 3D scene segmentation, 3D stereoscopic display (side-by-side), hand tracking, hand gesture recognition, head-tracking with 9-DOF IMU integration (based on accelerometer, gyro, and digital compass). Sample code of demo applications. Samples codes include specific tutorials of how to create your first Augmented Reality applications with our SDK.
What operating systems does the developer edition run on?
We currently support Windows 7 & 8 for development and are looking into supporting other OS’s. We are not currently supporting Parallels or VMware.
Can I still buy the meta1 developer edition?
Due to the popularity of the meta1, we cannot guarantee we will have enough stock to fulfill your order, however if you wish to back-order one you can order one at spaceglasses.com/buy.
Company Expansion
You have backed a winner! We have grown meta this year from a 6 person startup to an over 35 employee strong company. Each area of the company has been expanding rapidly over the last few months, outgrowing office after office. meta is now built strongly of world class software engineers out of Steve Mann’s labs and the best universities around the world. Hardware engineers coming from the most highly regarded companies and backgrounds, the best industrial designers, concept designers and UI designers from all over the globe and experienced entrepreneurs from many different backgrounds all committing themselves to our cause.
The meta hardware team building this dream into a reality.
meta manufacturing labs
meta engineers using the industrial 3D printer for prototyping.
meta outreach engineers discussing feedback
Hard at work at 4AM: meta software engineers pulling in the long hours with big smiles.
meta concept, industrial & UI designers collaborating on the future of meta.
Unveiling the next form factor in computing: Our new product design!
You can only make a first impression once and we want ours to be killer! So, we have decided to build something entirely mind-blowing and new.
Our current focus is perfecting ergonomics. We want this to be a product you can comfortably wear while developing all day and we were not happy with the feedback from our earliest iterations. To solve this, we hired Rusty Reed, an ergonomics and production line specialist with over 20 years experience building glasses for Native, Orbus and Nike. To improve the ergonomics, we devoted substantial resources to develop a new industrial design, and we are pleased to reveal it today.
Latest working prototype of developer edition to be shipped to kickstarters
The new redesign has lengthened our delivery timeline by a few months. However, it means you will get a much better product because of all the new resources we have been devoting. The glasses will begin shipping this December and you will have them by January (except for those international orders with lengthened customs).
Our base hardware has arrived: we have over 600 optics units on site, and all the depth cameras to build the systems to fulfill our Kickstarter orders.
base hardware
Manufacturing & delivery plans
We want to share with you the inside details of what we are doing to bring you the future of computing by this December.
gantt chart from beginning of September to January. Click here for more detail
As you can see we will be very busy over the next few months making sure you get your glasses as soon as possible!
First we must finalise the conceptual design. (Already done!) We will than be turning the conceptual designs into mechanical CAD file designs used for prototyping. These files will be used for building prototypes, testing the prototypes and redesigning them until we validate that all the parts are correct. Once the CAD files are finalised we give those to the manufacturer to create the tooling plans for the injection moulding tools. The tooling designs are completed and the injection moulding tools are built. A very short run of parts of each tool is done. These are our “first shots”. Our first shots are reviewed for accuracy. Once perfecting everything and ensuring the tools accurately the tools are finished and production parts can than be made. Preparing your glasses for shipment.
Latest working prototypes!
We have a world class team of industrial designers, production line specialists and engineers who have put their heads together to redesign the physical product that will be the future of computing. But don’t just take our word for it, check them out!
Latest working prototype
Latest working prototype
Exploded view of CAD files for printing next iteration
new wireframes being worked on by our designer Martin
Close up of new wireframes
Latest press
“If it were 1976 and you had just met Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs at a conference would you have known that they were "the ones?" You know, the ones who would go on to change the world?” ~ Robert Scoble, after meeting the meta team.
A lot of you have noticed and taken advantage of the live chat on our website,spaceglasses.com. We would like to answer publicly some of the most common questions.
Will Kickstarter backers be getting the developer edition or streamline?
Kickstarters backers are getting the new developer edition, shown on the top of this page, with an ergonomic and sleek design.
What apps are available?
We are working on a number of open source demo applications, such as metacraft, lightsabers, boxing and a few more surprises. We are currently preparing our app store for all the apps you developers will be making. With several hundred ideas already submitted, we are going to be funding 10 of the best for development! Submit your ideas at spaceglasses.com/killer_apps
How is this different than Google Glass?
meta is true see through augmented reality. With binocular display and an array of sensors to perceive the real world and integrate it with the digital world, including a depth sensor, rgb camera, and IMU. We create the Ironman like interface with a natural form of input and display, allowing the world around you to become the computing interface. At half the price, we offer double the technology. Google Glass with the Mirror API is not true augmented reality. It is a notification machine, a monocle display that does not recognize real world objects or support 3D objects and 3D interfaces.
What is the difference between meta 1 developer and meta 1 streamline?
The only difference is in design and weight. Both share the same technical specifications.
What will be in the SDK?
Multi-marker detection and tracking, feature-based tracking, featureless surface detection, featureless surface morphing, real-time 3D scene segmentation, 3D stereoscopic display (side-by-side), hand tracking, hand gesture recognition, head-tracking with 9-DOF IMU integration (based on accelerometer, gyro, and digital compass). Sample code of demo applications. Samples codes include specific tutorials of how to create your first Augmented Reality applications with our SDK.
What Operating systems does it run on?
We currently support Windows 7 & 8 for development and are looking supporting other OS’s. We are not currently supporting Parallels or VMware.
Does it have wireless capabilities?
The meta 1 Developer Edition does not have a radio, but can take advantage of the wireless card in your tethered computer. The meta1 is an interface, it is not intended or available as a stand alone device. Subsequent version will have full wireless capabilities.
Things have been buzzing over here in meta as we work like a hive to bring this reality come to life! 3D printers are churning out new prototypes every few hours, developers designing evolutionary algorithms and visionaries reaching into previously unfathomable concepts. Every week there is at least one person pulling a 3 day long all nighter.
We have been having the best in the world join our ranks in different fields to help design this product. We have been having people fly in to join meta every day for the last week from all over the world! A true team of superstars, each in his own department.
Please feel free to bug us with any question you have. We are here for you, so please fire away :-)
