Affordable augmented reality (AR) headset Aryzon was just funded on Kickstarter, having reached its initial goal of €25,000, or just under $28,000. The new smartphone-powered head-mounted display is being presented by its creators as an alternative to Microsoft’s HoloLens, currently the only relatively developed AR headset on the market with a high pre-production price tag of $3,000. Aryzon is trying to translate the design philosophy behind the Google Cardboard to AR technology and provide consumers with an augmented reality experience for under $30.
Much like the Google Cardboard, Aryzon can be used with both Android and iOS devices and is extremely portable, giving you the freedom to keep on playing and experiencing other content on the go. The solution is powered by the Aryzon app and everything that is needed to enjoy the experience is included with the basic product that starts at $26 for Kickstarter backers. The headset allows people of all ages to take advantage of a wide variety of AR experiences, its creators claim.
Early backers of the headset will receive the Aryzon kit one month earlier than everyone else, with the company promising to ship the device anywhere in the world. More specifically, you could get the headset as early as this August if you claim one of the remaining 88 early backers spot, while everyone else is scheduled to receive their head-mounted display a month later. The Aryzon Kickstarter campaign is live for 33 more days, but the product itself wasn’t launched on the popular crowdfunding platform with any kind of stretch goals. Still, the fact that it managed to hit its initial goal with more than a month to spare indicates that AR technology is already gaining some traction among consumers and this niche may evolve more steadily in the future. Most major tech companies in the world are currently committing resources to developing virtual reality (VR) hardware and software, though AR itself isn’t necessarily seen as a competing technology by everyone and is instead viewed as an extension of the industry-wide efforts to digitally enhance reality. Google, for example, recently referred to AR and VR as two sides of the same “immersive computing spectrum.”
