Small startup bets you’ll spend $2,000 on a ‘work laptop’ without a screen – Spacetop G1 uses AR glasses to deliver a virtual 100-inch screen, but it runs Google ChromeOS

By James On Jun 6, 2024

After nearly three years of development, Sightful has unveiled Spacetop G1, the world’s first Augmented Reality laptop that uses AR glasses to deliver a virtual 100-inch screen and runs Chrome OS.

The Spacetop G1 currently retails for $1700 (it usually retails for $1900). available to reserve for a $100 refundable deposit and is expected to ship in October 2024. For now it’s only for the US.

Developed by a team of more than 60 spatial computing experts, including veterans from Apple, Microsoft and Magic Leap, Spacetop provides a private, virtual workspace. The laptop form factor includes custom hardware and a native spatial environment, allowing users to design and customize their workspace wherever they are.

Strapped AR glasses

The Spacetop G1 is 0.51 inches long, 2.44 inches wide, 11.81 inches deep and weighs 3.08 lbs. It runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon QCS8550 platform with a KRYO CPU and Adreno 740 graphics, and comes with 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory and 128 GB of UFS3.1 storage.

The G1 features two USB-C ports and connectivity options include Wi-Fi 7, 5G (there’s support for a Nano-SIM and eSIM) and Bluetooth 5.3. The 60Wh battery promises a lifespan of up to 8 hours, or a “full day of work,” as the company calls it.

The G1 integrates NReal glasses with the proprietary Spacetop environment, overlaying bright, high-resolution AR windows over the real world. The glasses, which attach to the laptop, weigh 0.18 kg and come with two OLED display panels (1920×1080 pixels per eye) with a 90 Hz refresh rate and a 50° diagonal field of view. Custom prescription lenses are available from -8.00D to +6.00D.

It will be interesting to see if companies are ready to embrace the concept of a screenless AR laptop like the Spacetop G1, especially considering its high price.

“Laptops are essential to our daily work, yet technology has not evolved to match the modern ‘work anywhere’ mentality,” said Tamir Berliner, CEO and co-founder of Sightful. “In the meantime, Augmented Reality is promising, but lacks daily use. Spacetop G1 is the first step towards a new paradigm.”