What would it take to innovate on the traditional laptop we know and love? Two ex-employees of Magic Leap from Tel-Aviv, it seems, as they create the Spacetop—the $2,000 screen-free laptop that uses augmented reality (AR) glasses instead for a 100-inch display.
The startup behind the promising product is Sightful, which is led by its Chief Executive Officer Tamir Berliner, alongside Chief Operating Officer Tomer Kahan, who was formerly employed in a company that makes AR headsets.
In testing the waters for a possible wider launch, the company is selling only 1,000 units from the start as a component of an early access program.
The Spacetop will not only be defined by its unique hardware but also by its proprietary operating system. Backers are marketing it as capable of running applications such as familiar applications, like Figma, Google, or Zoom.
However, being fresh from the oven, the company is not promising to deliver a system that will cater to gamers or power users just yet—although a plan to eventually include such capability is on the table upon the OS’ maturity.
While the laptop is being heavily marketed for not having a screen display—which is certainly a first for a portable computer—Spacetop still supports external displays through connection with a traditional monitor, which unlocks certain features and more, with future updates.
Helping out with the business project is Wistron for its expertise in manufacturing laptops, while Nreal will be producing the AR glasses, which are capable of 1080p resolution per eye.
Techies who are looking for something new to check out and try can sign up for the AR laptop now, with the promise that they will start shipping by July this year.