Lenovo Mirage AR

Lenovo Mirage AR
Basic Info
VR/AR	Augmented reality
Type	Head-mounted display
Subtype	Phone-Powered AR
Developer	Lenovo
Manufacturer	Lenovo
Announcement Date	31 August 2017 (Berlin)
Release Date	3 November 2017 (United States, Star Wars: Jedi Challenges bundle); 6 September 2019 (United States, Marvel Dimension of Heroes bundle)
Price	US$199.99 (Star Wars: Jedi Challenges bundle, 2017); US$249.99 (Marvel Dimension of Heroes bundle with Universal Controllers, 2019)
Versions	Star Wars: Jedi Challenges bundle (headset model AR-7561N, Lightsaber controller AAC-101B, Tracking Beacon AAC-231N); Lenovo Mirage AR bundle with dual Universal Controllers (2019)
Requires	Compatible Android phone or iPhone running the companion app
Display
Display	Display of the inserted smartphone
Image
Field of View	60 degrees horizontal x 30 degrees vertical (as reported by Tom's Hardware)
Optics
Optics	Polarization layer, beam splitter and concave see-through lenses
Tracking
Tracking	Inside-out positional tracking with two fisheye cameras and a floor-mounted Tracking Beacon
Audio
Audio	Smartphone speaker; no headphone jack
Connectivity
Ports	Micro USB (charging and phone connection)
Battery Capacity	2,200 mAh
Battery Life	Up to 5 hours (Lenovo claim)
Device
Dimensions	8.2 x 3.8 x 6.1 in (Tom's Guide measurement)
Weight	0.48 kg (1.05 lb) without phone (Tom's Hardware measurement)
Input	Three headset buttons (Select, Cancel, Menu); Lightsaber controller; Universal Controllers (2019)

The Lenovo Mirage AR is a smartphone-powered augmented reality head-mounted display made by Lenovo. It has no display or processor of its own. The wearer places a compatible Android phone or iPhone in a tray inside the headset, and optics in the visor reflect the phone's screen onto see-through lenses, so that game graphics appear over the real room.

Lenovo and Disney announced the headset on 31 August 2017 as part of Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, a kit that also contained a Lightsaber controller and a Tracking Beacon placed on the floor. In September 2019 Lenovo added a second game, MARVEL Dimension of Heroes, and a new pair of hand-worn Universal Controllers. The Star Wars: Jedi Challenges app and hardware were retired on 1 June 2022, and product support for them ended on 6 July 2022.

Reviewed 15 October 2026. Checked every date, price, spec, model number, quote, award and the retirement notice against the cited Lenovo releases, user guide, FCC record, StarWars.com, iF and review sources (retirement notice via its archived copy). About review dates.

Announcement and release

Lenovo and Disney unveiled Star Wars: Jedi Challenges in Berlin on 31 August 2017, as part of Force Friday II, the worldwide launch of new Star Wars products. The press release described the kit as a smartphone-powered Lenovo Mirage AR headset, a Tracking Beacon, a Lightsaber controller and the game content. Lenovo said the product worked with both Android phones and iPhones, opened pre-orders on its own site and at local retailers, and said it would go on sale "beginning in November in certain markets", with pricing varying by country. Jeff Meredith, senior vice president and general manager of Lenovo Consumer PCs and Smart Devices, described the product as "marrying Lenovo technology with Disney's storytelling".

In the United States, pre-orders at Best Buy and Lenovo.com were priced at US$200. Road to VR reported that the box included batteries, a charger and cables for connecting different phones. StarWars.com reported on 3 November 2017 that the kit was "available today for $199.99". Trusted Reviews listed a review price of £199.99 in the United Kingdom.

The headset's radio was certified by the US Federal Communications Commission under FCC ID O57AR7561N, filed by Lenovo (Shanghai) Electronics Technology as an "AR Device" with model number AR7561N. The grant is dated 1 September 2017 and covers the 2402 to 2480 MHz band.

Disney's vice president of advanced development, Mike Goslin, told StarWars.com that the team had started from the goal of the best possible lightsaber experience rather than from a platform: "We very quickly came to augmented reality as the best way to do lightsabers."

Marvel Dimension of Heroes bundle (2019)

On 5 September 2019 Lenovo announced MARVEL Dimension of Heroes, a free game "available only on Lenovo Mirage AR". The 2019 package contained the Mirage AR headset, dual Universal Controllers and the Tracking Beacon, priced at US$249.99 in the United States from 6 September 2019 on Amazon.com and Lenovo.com. Lenovo said all phones compatible with Star Wars: Jedi Challenges also worked with the new game, and that a free update would let Jedi Challenges players use a Universal Controller in place of the lightsaber. Road to VR noted that the original Star Wars bundle was then selling for US$50 on Amazon, down from US$200.

Design and hardware

Headset and optics

The headset is mostly dark-gray matte plastic with a clear plastic panel wrapped around the front. The left side opens to reveal the phone tray and a micro USB port, which charges the headset's built-in 2,200 mAh battery and also connects the phone to the headset. Three buttons on the right side (Select, Cancel and Menu) have raised markings so they can be told apart by touch. Tom's Guide measured the headset at 8.2 x 3.8 x 6.1 inches and 17.6 ounces. Tom's Hardware weighed it at 1.05 pounds (0.48 kg), rising to 0.61 kg with a Samsung Galaxy S10 inserted and 0.66 kg with a Google Pixel XL. The headset is held in place by adjustable elastic straps fastened with Velcro.

The optics form an optical see-through display. The phone shows a double image, which passes through a polarization layer and then a beam splitter that projects it onto the concave lenses in front of the wearer's eyes. Expert Reviews described the arrangement as a two-way mirror reflecting the phone's display onto two transparent lenses, which makes the image appear to float in the room. Tom's Hardware gave the field of view as 60 degrees horizontal and 30 degrees vertical, and reported Lenovo's warning that screen protectors may reduce brightness. Lenovo's user guide also says a screen protector can affect brightness during play.

The headset has no headphone jack, so sound comes from the phone's own speaker. Short adapter cables with micro USB, USB-C and Lightning ends were included so that different phones could be connected. Lenovo stated a battery life of up to five hours; in Tom's Hardware's use the headset lasted eight hours, including setup and troubleshooting time.

Tracking and controllers

Two fisheye cameras on the front of the headset provide inside-out tracking. They follow the light on the Tracking Beacon, which the player places on the floor as a fixed reference point, and the light at the tip of the Lightsaber controller. According to Lenovo, the Lightsaber controller also contains an inertial measurement unit that sends rotational data to the phone to keep the virtual blade stable mid-swing, and it gives haptic feedback when the player strikes or blocks. Lenovo's user guide gives the best distance between the headset and the beacon as 1.5 to 2.5 meters and advises playing in open areas without bright lights.

Component	Model	Description
Lenovo Mirage AR headset	AR-7561N	Head-mounted display with motion tracking; built-in rechargeable battery
Lightsaber controller	AAC-101B	Bluetooth controller with an inertial measurement unit, modeled on the lightsaber used by Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker and Rey; 4.1 ounces, 12.4 x 1.9 inches
Tracking Beacon	AAC-231N	LED marker placed on the floor; runs on AA batteries and has a color switch; its light can be set to cyan or magenta
Universal Controllers (2019)	Not stated	Pair of controllers worn over the knuckles, each powered by two AA batteries, with a red (right) or blue (left) LED tracking light

Road to VR reported that the 2019 Universal Controllers gave six degrees of freedom tracking for both hands, using the same external beacon. Lenovo said the controllers allow hand and wrist motions and open-hand gestures, and that two-handed play was available only in MARVEL Dimension of Heroes.

Phone compatibility

Lenovo directed buyers to a list of compatible phones on its website rather than stating general hardware requirements. Road to VR, citing Best Buy's listing at pre-order time, named the iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6s, the Samsung Galaxy S8, S7 edge and S7, the Google Pixel XL and Pixel, and the Moto Z. At the time of its review, Tom's Guide counted 15 supported phones, including the iPhone 8. Lenovo told Digital Trends that most phones up to three years old should work. Digital Trends could not use an HTC U11 Life because its charging port sits off-center on the bottom edge.

Software and features

Star Wars: Jedi Challenges

Star Wars: Jedi Challenges is a free app for Android and iOS that runs on the phone inside the headset. A new character, the Archivist, guides the player through three activities: Lightsaber Battles against villains such as Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, Strategic Combat, in which the player commands Republic, Rebel or Resistance forces against the Separatists, Empire or First Order on the living room floor, and Holochess. Tom's Guide reported that the challenges were spread across the planets Naboo, Garel, Lothal, Hoth and Takodana, each with three tiers of difficulty.

The game received free content updates. After Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released, Lenovo and Disney added content based on the film, including the planet Crait for Strategic Combat and a duel against two Praetorian Guards. A local multiplayer Lightsaber Versus Mode followed by May 2018; it requires two complete kits on the same Wi-Fi network. In its 2019 announcement, Lenovo said Jedi Challenges would receive a free update adding support for the Universal Controllers.

MARVEL Dimension of Heroes

MARVEL Dimension of Heroes lets the player use the abilities of Doctor Strange, Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Star-Lord. It has a Story Mode, in which Dormammu attacks Earth with Loki, Ronan the Accuser, Ultron Prime and the Winter Soldier, a Survival Mode, and a Co-Op Mode for two players in the same room. Co-Op requires each player to have a headset, two Universal Controllers, a Tracking Beacon and a compatible phone on the same Wi-Fi network. Road to VR reported that Survival Mode had online leaderboards.

Reception

Early hands-on reports were mixed. Road to VR summarized CNET's view that the field of view was "too narrow to really be immersive" and Engadget's description of the lightsaber demo as a "really fun and immersive experience". Road to VR itself questioned whether a US$200 headset with a single title was more than an expensive gimmick.

Reviews of the retail kit praised the lightsaber play and criticized the setup. In Android Central's review, Russell Holly called the setup tedious, since the phone had to be paired, inserted and cabled in a fixed order, and noted that the lightsaber blade sometimes lagged behind his movements. He measured 18 to 20 percent phone battery drain per hour of play on a Moto Z2 Force. Tom's Guide found that the translucent holograms were lost in direct sunlight and that in Holochess, which uses the player's gaze to select pieces, the tracking sometimes veered to one side; reviewer Sherri L. Smith wished the holograms were more opaque and the tracking more precise. Trusted Reviews reported the phone overheating after less than an hour of play. TechRadar found the front-mounted phone made the headset heavy and uncomfortable after a few minutes and missed a headphone jack. Digital Trends wrote that the field of view needed to be wider and that the setup process made the product "feel like a prototype".

Reviewing the 2019 bundle, Tom's Hardware found that the headset showed Marvel's characters clearly in both dark and sunlit rooms, but described the phone tray as flimsy, reported repeated phone connection failures and found the headset uncomfortable over long sessions. Its verdict was that the headset "needs more apps and improved comfort".

Awards

The Star Wars: Jedi Challenges kit, entered as "Mirage-Star Wars", received an iF Design Award in 2018 in the Product Design discipline, category Gaming/VR/AR; the design is credited to the Lenovo Experience Design Group. At the 2018 Webby Awards, Star Wars: Jedi Challenges won both the Webby Award and the People's Voice Award for Best Use of Augmented Reality and for Technical Achievement.

Discontinuation

The Star Wars Help Center states that the Star Wars: Jedi Challenges app and gear were retired on 1 June 2022, that no future updates were planned, and that product support ended on 6 July 2022.

See also

• Lenovo
• Lenovo Mirage Solo
• Lenovo Explorer
• Mira Prism
• HoloKit
• Phone-Powered AR
• Optical see-through