#HTE

The Looking Glass is Like a Holographic iPad

We can consume media in private or shared ways, i.e. headphones vs. speakers, goggles vs. screens. The immersiveness of VR requires goggles, which of course means everyone participating needs to be wearing a pair. But a company called Looking Glass Factory is betting that people in a group would rather look at a screen, which is more communal and less alienating. “In our vision of the future, technology doesn’t isolate us. It makes our human connections stronger,” the company writes.

Here’s what their eponymous product does:

We live in 3D. Everything we see and do and touch in the real world is three-dimensional. And yet, most of our digital creations remain trapped on flat, 2D screens.

Meanwhile, the tech industry has put forth AR and VR as its solution. We strap bulky, uncomfortable headgear to our faces, in search of digital wonder. In our tireless quest for immersion, we’ve forgotten the best 3D experience of all: the ones shared in physical space with real human beings.

LGF’s shared 3D experience is surprisingly affordable: They’re selling them for $450 on Kickstarter.