Smart telescope maker Unistellar wants to realize “the first technological revolution in binoculars in decades” for its new smart binoculars Envision through a crowdfunding campaign.
The company is at the forefront of the smart telescope revolution we’ve dubbed ‘the future of astrophotography’, with a range that already includes the Odyssey and Odyssey Pro models.
Now it’s expanding its horizons to binoculars: the Envision will use augmented reality (AR) to put useful information about everything around you directly into your field of view at the touch of a button.
Contextual information can be personalized and includes a database of maps and four user modes: Smart Scouting, Guided Navigation, Shareable Target-Lock and Classic Optical.
And we are excited about it. Imagine exploring your surroundings with Envision binoculars and being able to contextualize what you see with information such as water sources, landmarks and places of interest?
Or suppose you spot wild animals during a safari and locate a leopard. You can then activate Shareable-Target Lock mode to keep track, and you can even hand the binoculars to people around you, who will be guided back to the same subject.
For avid stargazers, the viewing experience sounds just as immersive, with the Guided Nagivation mode suggesting points of interest: stars, nebulae and galaxies, along with useful information about what you’re seeing.
You’ll need to be connected to a smartphone via Unistellar’s companion app to make full use of the augmented reality features, but even without the flashy feature, Unistellar says these binoculars have premium optics.
For entry-level astronomers and higher-level navigation, Unistellar bills the Envision smart binoculars as the first of its kind, combining proprietary augmented reality features and premium optics, at a competitive price.
Apart from the smart features, we don’t know much about the technical details of the binoculars, although more will be revealed once the crowdfunding campaign officially begins.
Speaking of which, we are always careful to point out that crowdfunding campaigns like Envision do not guarantee product completion and delivery. However, Unistellar’s track record is great. It delivered the eVscope smart telescope after receiving over $2.2 million in backing (and therefore strategic backing from Nikon), and we’ve positively reviewed some of its previous products, including the Odyssey Pro, so the campaign feels like a fair guess.
Early backers of the Envision crowdfunding campaign can claim the smart binoculars for $599 instead of the full price of $999, and the discount is limited to the first 1,000 backers. There’s no official word on when exactly the campaign will start other than ‘soon’, but you can be notified by clicking the link Unistellar’s campaign page.