Since the debut of Microsoft's HoloLens last month, companies working on competing augmented reality (AR) products have been put on notice: the biggest software maker on the planet has entered the game.
Adding Microsoft to the list of existing AR players, including the Oculus Rift and Google Glass, means that the race to win big in AR is no longer the domain of obscure startups working on the fringe. But one of those smaller players, castAR, has just released a new video designed show how its device might work as a normal part of everyday family life, and possibly compete with the big guys.
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The video relies on effects to illustrate what you can do with the device, but it's important to note that just a few years ago such a production would have been labeled as a "concept" video for imagined products, rather than as a promotion for a real device.
But does castAR work exactly as it appears in the video? The makers of the device admit that the video "used CG [computer graphics] for a higher production value," so it remains to be seen just how well the real thing compares to the company's vision.
Technical Illusions, the company behind the successful (over $1 million) Kickstarter for the device, which promised to deliver the castAR to some early supporters in 2013, finally began getting the device to some users last month, so we'll know soon.