Realmax
| Realmax | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Industry | Augmented Reality |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Jackie Yu |
| Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
| Notable Personnel | Jackie Yu (CEO), Nigel Burton (CTO) |
| Products | AR/VR headsets, AR content creation software |
| Website | http://www.realmax.com |
Realmax (stylized RealMax) is a Chinese Augmented Reality company that develops AR hardware, software, and content. It is headquartered in Shanghai and describes itself as having been established in 2003, growing from a robotics supplier for Chinese universities into a multinational firm with overseas offices including Hong Kong, New York, and the United States.[1][2] The company is best known for the Realmax Qian, a standalone headset that combines see-through augmented reality with a wide field of view and can also be converted into a virtual reality device.[3][4]
Realmax positioned its glasses as a lower-cost alternative to enterprise mixed reality headsets such as the Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap One, leaning on a wide field of view as its main selling point and a sub-1,000 US dollar target price.[5] The company's leadership has included Jackie Yu as chief executive and Nigel Burton, who has been described as both chief technology officer and head of its Western operations.[1][4]
History
Realmax traces its origins to 2003, when it began supplying robotics technology to universities in China. In 2015 the company assembled a leadership team drawn from larger technology firms and refocused on augmented reality, with a stated mission of "making Augmented Reality accessible to everyone."[1] Its first AR headset was the RealMax 100, developed by a team led by Nigel Burton; the Realmax Qian followed as the second iteration of the company's glasses.[4]
Realmax used the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas as its main public stage. It previewed a prototype of its wide field-of-view glasses at CES 2018, returned with a production model of the Qian at CES 2019, and showed a more mature version at CES 2020.[1][5][6] In September 2020 the company ran a Kickstarter campaign to bring the Qian to a wider audience, offering an introductory price of 499 US dollars against a planned retail price of 999 US dollars.[6] The company also exhibited the Qian at AWE Asia 2020.[2]
Technology
Realmax's hardware is built around optical see-through augmented reality, in which digital imagery is overlaid on the user's view of the real world through transparent optics rather than camera passthrough. The company's headline claim was an unusually wide field of view for the category: it advertised the Realmax Qian at 100.8 degrees, which it said exceeded contemporary AR devices such as the Meta 2 and the Microsoft HoloLens.[3][7] Independent hands-on testing reported an even larger figure, with one reviewer measuring roughly 119 degrees diagonally and noting the headset used a birdbath optical design with a 2K-class display panel.[4]
A distinctive feature of the design is its ability to switch between augmented and virtual reality. By attaching a magnetic cover or clip-on shade that blocks outside light, the see-through glasses become an immersive VR display, so a single device can move across different levels of immersion.[3][6] The hardware uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system on chip, runs as a self-contained wireless unit, and supports six Degrees of freedom (6DoF) tracking through onboard cameras and sensors. Hand tracking and gesture recognition are available, and the platform has supported add-on input such as a Leap Motion sensor.[3][5][4]
On the software side, Realmax built Realmax Studio, a web-based AR development platform created in partnership with the team behind the ARToolKit open-source library. The tool was aimed at building 3D educational and enterprise experiences and could publish content to the Qian glasses as well as to mobile platforms using Apple ARKit and Google ARCore.[1][7]
Products
| Product | Year | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RealMax 100 | (early) | Optical see-through AR glasses | First-generation Realmax headset; predecessor to the Qian[4] |
| Realmax Qian | 2018-2020 | Standalone AR/VR headset | Flagship product; ~100.8 degree advertised field of view; Qualcomm Snapdragon 835; 6DoF tracking; convertible to VR via a magnetic cover; sub-1,000 US dollar target price[3][5][6] |
| Realmax Studio | 2018 | AR content-creation software | Web-based development platform built with the ARToolKit team; publishes to the Qian, Apple ARKit, and Google ARCore[1][7] |
Market position
Realmax marketed itself toward education, enterprise, medical, and industrial customers, presenting wide field-of-view AR as a more affordable substitute for premium mixed reality headsets.[2][5] The Realmax Qian drew attention at successive CES events for claiming an industry-leading field of view, and reviewers generally praised its wide, immersive AR image and portable standalone design while noting drawbacks such as image blur during head movement.[7][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Realmax previews 100 degree mobile Augmented Reality Glasses, and Multi-Platform AR Creation Tool". 2018-01-08. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/realmax-previews-100-degree-mobile-augmented-reality-glasses-and-multi-platform-ar-creation-tool-300577931.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "RealMax Attends AWE Asia 2020, Showcasing the Acclaimed RealMax Qian". 2020-08-18. https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/20/08/ab17142334/realmax-attends-awe-asia-2020-showcasing-the-acclaimed-realmax-qian.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Realmax Qian is a light, fully wireless AR/VR headset with a 100-degree FOV". https://venturebeat.com/business/realmax-qian/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "RealMax Qian review: wide FOV AR is amazing!". 2021-02-11. https://skarredghost.com/2021/02/11/realmax-qian-review-wide-fov-ar/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "RealMax Returns to CES with Production Model of Qian AR Headset with Industry-Leading Field of View". https://next.reality.news/news/realmax-returns-ces-with-production-model-qian-ar-headset-with-industry-leading-field-view-0192435/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "RealMax Qian AR glasses offer ultra large FOV, 6DOF tracking and more from $499". 2020-09-21. https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/ar-glasses-21-09-2020/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Realmax Claims Crown of Widest Field of View for an AR Headset at CES". https://augmented.reality.news/news/realmax-claims-crown-widest-field-view-for-ar-headset-ces-0182114/.