The team has brought the effort to Kickstarter to build the funding that they need to move forward.
Two former employees from Valve are now working together on the development of their own pair of augmented reality glasses, in an effort that has brought them to Kickstarter in order to raise the necessary funds.
The two have come up with the wearable product that they have called CastAR glasses.
They use augmented reality to enhance the vision experience by projecting onto a surface made out of highly reflective material. What this produces is the appearance of what looks to be three dimensional objects directly within the real world view. The name of the new company is Technical Illusions.
The two are seeking $400,000 for the finishing step in development of their augmented reality glasses.
At the time that this article was written, the company had already managed to bring in over $300,000 toward their goal, with a full 30 days left to go. The augmented reality glasses have already managed to attract a certain amount of attention and hype, simply because of the developers, Rick Johnson and Jeri Ellsworth, who were both fired from Valve (which is a rare form of action from the massive game studio).
These augmented reality glasses give the wearer the opportunity to move about a space, such as the room of a workplace or a house, while still keeping up the 3D effects that are displayed for them to see. They are also capable of multiple person support as long as all of the individuals are all looking at the same reflective surface. Through an attachable gadget, the glasses can also be used for boosting the field of vision of the wearer, even when they are not looking at the reflective surface. Another mode provides the wearer with complete field of vision coverage for an experience more comparable to virtual reality.
That said, CastAR is being marketed by Technical Illusions mainly for the projected augmented reality, despite the fact that there are a number of other modes possible through their use. The price tag on the basic headset is $189 along with one reflective board, which is necessary for their use.
