At CES 2024, ASUS appears to have taken people by surprise with the announcement of its AirVision M1 glasses, with some seeing them as an alternative to Apple's Vision Pro headphones. But I found that the ASUS glasses are much more of a novel alternative to portable monitors than something aimed at spatial computing.
The big difference between the AirVision M1 glasses and something like Xreal's Vision Pro or even Air 2 Ultras is that it doesn't really support anything in the way of interactive AR. Sure, the glasses can project your desktop or various windows into space, but they must be connected to a nearby device and don't recognize hand gestures or other virtual objects.
Instead, I found that its main purpose is to give you extra screen real estate, but without the need to carry around large, bulky portable monitors. With integrated microLED displays with Full HD resolution, AirVisions can display up to six or seven virtual windows or desktops. You can also choose between
There are a handful of aspect ratios (16:9, 21:9, 32:9 and more), with the glasses having three degrees of freedom that allow you to fix those screens in a virtual space or follow your head as you move.
Instead, I found that its main purpose is to give you extra screen real estate, but without the need to carry around large, bulky portable monitors. With integrated microLED displays with Full HD resolution, AirVisions can display up to six or seven virtual windows or desktops. You can also choose from a handful of aspect ratios (16:9, 21:9, 32:9 and more), with the glasses having three degrees of freedom that allow you to fix those screens in a virtual space or follow your head as you you move around.
Instead, I found that its main purpose is to give you extra screen real estate, but without the need to carry around large, bulky portable monitors. With integrated microLED displays with Full HD resolution, AirVisions can display up to six or seven virtual windows or desktops. You can also choose from a handful of aspect ratios (16:9, 21:9, 32:9 and more), with the glasses having three degrees of freedom that allow you to fix those screens in a virtual space or follow your head as you you move around. Instead, I found that its main purpose is to give you extra screen real estate, but without the need to carry around large, bulky portable monitors. With integrated microLED displays with Full HD resolution, AirVisions can display up to six or seven virtual windows or desktops. You can also choose from a handful of aspect ratios (16:9, 21:9, 32:9 and more), with the glasses having three degrees of freedom that allow you to fix those screens in a virtual space or follow your head as you you move around.
During my first demo, I used the AirVision M1 while connected to a laptop, where it behaved almost exactly as if I had a slightly floating desktop computer that seemed to float six feet in front of me. The virtual screens were a little blurry at first, but after a brief adjustment period and some time dialing in my IPD (interpupillary distance), I was pleasantly surprised at how sharp everything looked. Compared to something like the Sightful Spacetop, which is billed as the world's first AR laptop, it not only had a much larger vertical field of view (up to 57 degrees), but it also didn't require any additional special equipment, as the glasses They are essentially plug and play. While I didn't need them, it's important to note that the glasses come with a pair of nose pads to help ensure a good fit, as well as a prescription insert for people with glasses.
Once set up, it was quite easy to create additional virtual workspaces. All I had to do was open a small command menu, press a plus sign where I wanted a new window to appear, and that's it. You can also freely adjust the overall size of the virtual screen by zooming in or out. And one of the best things about AirVisions is that using the laptop's touchpad or typing was not difficult at all. As you can see through the virtual screens, I simply looked down and focused my eyes where they needed to go. That said, if you do get distracted by something in the background, the ASUS glasses also come with magnetic blinders that clip onto the front and provide a clean black background.
My favorite use case, however, was when I tested a different pair of AirVisions that were connected to an ROG Ally, where the glasses gave me a huge virtual screen to play games on. In this way, it's very similar to using a headset like the Meta Quest 3, but for non-VR games. This is the kind of device I'd love to have on a plane, where space is at a premium, especially for something like a portable monitor. That said, I'm not sure I can handle the shame of being a modern glass hole, at least not until devices like these become a little more popular.
But perhaps the biggest difference between Apple's AirVision M1 and Vision Pro is the price. While ASUS hasn't provided an official figure yet, a company spokesperson told me that ASUS is targeting around $700, versus $3,000 for Apple's headphones. And when you compare that to the price of a portable monitor, which often costs between $250 and $400 and offers much less screen real estate, suddenly that price doesn't seem too ridiculous.
So if you're looking for a travel monitor alternative, keep an eye out for ASUS' AirVision M1 glasses when they become available sometime in Q3 2024.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas January 6-12. Stay up to date with the latest news from the show. here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-asus-airvision-m1-glasses-give-you-big-virtual-screens-in-a-travel-friendly-package-234412478.html ?src=rss
