Lenovo ThinkReality A6 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

January 10, 2021

Lenovo Unveils Enterprise-Focused ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses at CES 2021

CES 2020 may have missed out on the pandemic thanks to its early January start but the 2021 event will no longer be the expansive tech show in Las Vegas, going digital like many others. Even so, tech companies are still revealing new hardware with Lenovo unveiling its ThinkReality A3 augmented reality (AR) glasses today.

An update to 2019’s ThinkReality A6 AR glasses, Lenovo’s new design offers a range of improvements over its predecessor – and not just a snazzier aesthetic. The ThinkReailty A3 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 platform (previously Snapdragon 845), has dual fish-eye cameras for 6DoF tracking, comes in at under 130g (down from 380g), has stereoscopic 1080p displays, and an 8MP RGB camera for 1080p video.

Designed for companies looking to increase efficiency and lower downtimes as well as improve remote collaboration, Lenovo’s ThinkReality A3 glasses can be tethered to a PC (PC Edition) when in the office or select Motorola smartphones (Industrial Edition) – which have a Snapdragon 800 series processor or better – via a USB-C cable when out and about. The device supports features including voice and gesture recognition for hands-free control.

“The A3 is a next generation augmented reality solution – light, powerful and versatile. The smart glasses are part of a comprehensive integrated digital solution from Lenovo that includes the advanced AR device, ThinkReality software, and Motorola mobile phones. Whether working in virtual spaces or supporting remote assistance, the ThinkReality A3 enhances workers’ abilities to do more wherever they are,” said Jon Pershke, Lenovo Vice President of Strategy and Emerging Business, Intelligent Device Group in a statement.

There’s been no indication of price at the moment but companies will be able to get hold of the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses in select markets from the middle 2021.

2021 is likely to see a boom in wearable AR tech as companies continue to adjust to remote, socially distanced collaboration. Whilst enterprise use cases will dominate adoption, the consumer market isn’t being ignored with the likes of Nreal Light slowly becoming available through mobile network carriers. Plus Facebook and Ray-Ban’s smart glasses are expected this year.

For further AR updates from CES 2021, keep reading VRFocus.

May 14, 2019

ThinkReality A6 Is Lenovo’s New HoloLens And Magic Leap Competitor

One has to admire Lenovo’s determination in both the AR and VR markets. Since late 2017 the company has launched a Windows VR headset, standalone Google Daydream device, its own phone-powered AR gaming platform and, in a few weeks, will help Oculus bring the Rift S to market. That’s a lot of headsets in the space of 18 months, but it’s not done.

Yesterday the tech giant announced the ThinkReality A6, a new enterprise-focused AR headset. From the looks of it, it’s the company’s answer to both HoloLens and Magic Leap. Like those headsets, ThinkReality A6 consists of a pair of see-through lenses that can project virtual images into the real world. You interact with this content using a three degrees of freedom (3DOF) motion controller similar to Magic Leap One. HoloLens 2, meanwhile, uses hand-tracking.

Sticking with the Magic Leap comparisons, the device is also powered by a compute box it’s tethered to. It features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 Mobile XR platform and an Intel Movidius Vision Processing Unit. This helps keep the headset light, weighing in at 380g. It also has a 40-degree diagonal field of view. That’s about 10 degrees smaller than those offered by Magic Leap One and HoloLens 2. Display resolution is 1080p per-eye and there’s also integrated eye-tracking.

As we said, this is an enterprise-focused device, so don’t expect to see games like on Lenovo’s Star Wars AR headset. In fact, Lenovo is also launching a wider ThinkReality platform designed to make both AR and VR applications compatible across different operating systems, cloud services and devices. There isn’t much other info out there right now.

As for pricing and release date, no updates yet. Given that this is a business-first device, though, we wouldn’t expect to be able to simply order it online.

Tagged with: AR headset, HoloLens 2, Lenovo ThinkReality A6, Magic Leap One

The post ThinkReality A6 Is Lenovo’s New HoloLens And Magic Leap Competitor appeared first on UploadVR.

May 13, 2019

Lenovo’s ThinkReality A6 Aims for Slice of AR Enterprise Market

While augmented reality (AR) in the consumer sphere tends to revolve around mobile phone apps and videogames when it comes to enterprise the technology usually favours headsets like Microsoft’s HoloLens, supplying information whilst providing hands-free operation to carry out tasks. Lenovo previously entered the virtual reality (VR) market with the Lenovo Mirage Solo and the Lenovo Explorer and now it has announced its first venture into the business AR market with the ThinkReality A6.

Lenovo ThinkReality A6

Revealed as part of Lenovo’s annual Transform 3.0 at Accelerate, ThinkReality is a newly launched sub-brand to provide software and hardware solutions for businesses. The ThinkReality A6 is the first device in this new portfolio with the aim of providing employees assistance, helping reduce repair times, eliminate errors, streamline complex workflows, improve training quality, collaborate with multiple team members and more.

Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC) processor, the headset offers a 40-degree diagonal field of view (FOV) with 1080p resolution per eye, weighing in at 380g (0.83lbs). Equipped with a depth sensor, Intel Movidius Visual Processing Unit (VPU), 13MP RGB camera, two fish-eye cameras, and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), users can control the headset voice, gesture, and gaze control, or with a 3DoF (Degrees of Freedom) hand controller.

Additional features include a removable 6800mAh battery which offers up to 4 hours of use, WiFi, Bluetooth, changeable nose pads, built-in speakers and support for glasses wearers.

Lenovo ThinkReality A6

One benefit for business users with Lenovo’s system is that it’s device and cloud agnostic, enabling enterprise customers to use and manage their AR and VR software applications across multiple operating systems, cloud services, and devices.

The headset is lightweight thanks to the separate compute box which users will have to clip to their clothes using the supplied belt clip. This is similar in design to the Magic Leap One Creators Edition which has the separate puck, while HoloLens is a completely self-contained system. Retailing for $2,295 USD and $3,500 (HoloLens 2) respectively, expect the ThinkReality A6 to also feature a similar price (nothing has been confirmed just yet) when it arrives later this year.

As further details are released VRFocus will keep you updated on the latest ThinkReality news.