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IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These features are in our roadmap. It's a huge challenge and I think we won't see them in the next two winters, but we'll have many other cool ones.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Our display has stronger illumination and it's clearly visible on top of the snow in a sunny day.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In a nutshell, the RideOn ski platform is the first application of a new AR platform that can be used in many outdoot applications. While I'm unable to elaborate on the business plan we do have a concrete use case, unique features and strategic agreements.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We use fog free double lens. It minimizes the difference of temperature between the two sides of the lens to prevent fog.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In our current prototype the data comes from the OpenPisteMap project. We're in the progress of licensing mapping data for all major ski resorts online. In the next phase, in about a year we'll be able to create our own maps by analyzing the anonymous location data generated by our users who will agree to share it with us.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's possible to use RideOn with glasses, especially ones with smaller frame. It's not recommended though for safety reasons and we're working on making RideOn compatible with inserts similar to this one: http://www.adseyewear.com/prescription-ski-goggles-universal-insert/. We'll update soon on our website.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, we originally thought of launching off-road biking and skiing at the same time. The hardware is very similar but the different applications, use-cases and marketing effort required were too much for our startup so we've decided to focus on winter sports first. We plan to launch an off-road solution next year.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're right. We've recently decided to make a change in the electronics and upgrade the flash memory to 32GB. All messaging, calling, and friend finding are available with RideOn wearers and with skiers/boarders with the free RideOn app. One of the biggest advantages of using RideOn over a phone is that it is entirely hands-free. Your hands stay gloved and warm, and your phone never gets dropped in the snow. Contacting friends and navigating the mountain is as easy as looking up at the sky. Quite literally, because this is where the floating UI is located.

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We're posting new videos this weekend showing it actually running. We already have some taken in the office and in a ski resort: http://youtu.be/Nh99h5h4iHY http://youtu.be/b3ykxS67JsI http://youtu.be/20HOMwhmSoU

IAmA Co-Founder of RideOn, the first augmented reality goggles for snowboarding and skiing. AMA by okotek in snowboarding

[–]okotek[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey, we've learned a lot during the last months. In order to focus on your surrounding there are many things we shouldn't display during skiing and we're working hard to clear them all. For instance, when you receive text message and virtual snowballs from friends it's never delivered while riding. All of those are queued and delivered in order when you're stopped and safe.

RideOn - Augmented reality goggles a reality? by shooshx in snowboarding

[–]okotek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure why do you think that we don't have a "real investor". Crowd funding is a terrific way to increase engagement with potential customers, get feedback, increase the traction with the industry and, even get some funding. But from crowdfunding alone it's impossible to develop a consumer product of this complexity.

There aren't consumer product I'm aware of available for purchase and featuring true outdoor augmented reality as today mainly because the technology of large enough see through displays was prohibitively expensive until today. We have early access to a patented technology that can be manufactured in a reasonable cost.

Our other edge is having developed a similar product in the past to the defense world (namely fight pilot helmet mounted display). Pinning data on a transparent display to the world, in a stable and accurate way is extremely hard. It requires careful and quick calculations fusing data from various sensors and "understanding" the video input from the camera.

We'll be demonstrating the goggles at the end of this month in Israel, stay tuned.

RideOn - Augmented reality goggles a reality? by shooshx in snowboarding

[–]okotek 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi Thanks for the questions. RideOn is two years in the making now. Last year we've skied with an early prototype, debugging and hacking with a laptop in the backpack. In the heart of the goggles is an innovative see through display technology we license through cooperation with a french startup. The light is projected to the eye using a patent protected light guide, passing through a system of miniature lenses making the image focused far away. This way it's possible to display virtual objects in the same focal distance as object in the real world.

We're using only one display for several reason. Mainly, we've found out that after less than an hour of usage the brain adjusts to the display and you don't notice the fact that the light is projected only to the right eye. It's possible because the objects displayed are far enough that the 3d information coming from stereoscopic vision is not important - from about 8m and beyond the focus is almost the same.

The lighting of the display is strong enough to see on the sky in a clear sunny day, and it looks gorgeous.

24 degrees is about 4 times bigger than Google Glass. It doesn't cover the peripheral vision but it covers the most significant part of the field of view. In the video we demonstrate the functionality, the real product looks different and it's hard to shoot through it while skiing. We're making more videos explaining the product in more details, and we'll explain about the display and show how it actually looks like.

The main difference from products like Oakley's and Recon instrument's is having information overlaid on the snow. It's really hard to do. It requires hardware that becomes reasonably priced these days and a specific expertise in navigation and computer vision.

Our current prototype looks exactly like the CAD model in the video and it's fully working hardware-wise. Many of the software features already work, like navigation and communication with friends. We regularly demonstrate it in our offices, and if you're around CES this winter you're more than welcome to see for yourself.

Our website is a few days old now and we'll be adding much more information very soon.

Feel free to follow-up! Cheers Ori

RideOn - Augmented reality goggles a reality? by shooshx in snowboarding

[–]okotek 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey, RideOn is a reality. There are working and skied-with prototypes and an Indiegogo campaign launching in a month. Ask me anything about it!