How 3 Augmented Reality Hardware Startups Are Preparing for the Consumer Market

Among the thousands of companies showing off their products at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, there were also a few dozen startups dedicated to augmented reality (AR). And while a lot of the focus around AR hardware has been on enterprise use, an increasing number of companies is getting ready to sell AR glasses to consumers as well.However, without an existing market for AR hardware, companies are left to guess what consumers actually want from these devices, resulting in widely varying implementations. Privacy issues are also still dicey, which leads some to hold back on the use of front-facing cameras. With all of those challenges, even insiders believe that it will be a few more years before average consumers begin to pick up their products as holiday gifts.North actually released its consumer AR glasses, simply dubbed Focals, late last year. The company still used CES as a kind of public coming-out, and showed off one of the most polished takes on AR eyeware yet. Focals look and feel just like a pair of regular glasses, and even come with multiple frame designs.Not making its hardware look like a face computer was incredibly important to the company, said North co-founder Aaron Grant. “It had to look like regular glasses. That’s easy to say and very hard to do.”