The Apple Vision Pro is heavy and would surely become an annoying anchor in your face if you tried to use it for a full eight-hour workday. This is because all the technology is included in the headset itself. A company called Sightful is addressing this problem with its . It's a screenless laptop paired with AR glasses that runs a custom operating system and not Windows. All the heavy stuff is inside the laptop, so the glasses weigh, you know, as much as a pair of glasses.
The company calls it “the laptop for the spatial computing era,” elevating Apple's marketing language a bit. It's basically a pair of custom Xreal AR glasses attached to something like the bottom section of a laptop, with a keyboard and trackpad. Sightful says this allows for a 100-inch virtual screen that floats above the real world. The device actually predates the Vision Pro, having launched a year ago as an early access product, although it's now available for pre-order for everyone.
As for the hardware, it won't break any speed records. The Spacetop G1 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon QCS8550 processor, typically found in mobile devices, along with 16GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The specs are fine, more or less, especially considering the product focuses on work and not play.
The glasses include a pair of 1920×1080 OLED displays with 90Hz refresh rates, a 50-degree field of view, and 42 PPD (pixels per degree), with support for custom prescription lenses. They also include Xreal's 6W open speaker system. I've used Xreal glasses before and , but that promise of a 100-inch virtual screen is severely hampered by the abysmal field of view.
You can skip the virtual screen entirely. The device has two USB-C ports, which connect to peripherals such as standalone monitors. This creates a unique use case scenario. You can work with a real monitor while you're in the office and then continue working with a full setup while you're on a plane or something. That would be great for workaholics.
Wireless connectivity options reinforce this idea, as the G1 supports WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, SIM cards, 5G and 4G. However, the battery will run out after just eight hours, so domestic flights may be the best option in this case.
The system also comes with a proprietary operating system to take advantage of AR capabilities. It is built on ChromiumOS and is designed for navigation using a selection of gestures. Testers have damaged the operating system. calling it “Android-like” and, being custom software, it does not offer support for all available applications. However, it works well with Google's entire suite of productivity software. Finally, the G1 comes with a built-in 5MP camera for video calling.
The Spacetop G1 laptop may lack a physical display, but it's priced like it has the best OLED out there. He costs $1,900. You can get a pair of AR glasses for around $1,400. Just something to think about.
