Spacetop AR: From Screenless Laptop to Windows App for AI PCs

Spacetop AR is now an expensive Windows app instead of a useless screenless laptop

It's built for Intel AI PCs and costs $899 with a $200 annual subscription. The Spacetop AR laptop made a splash when it debuted a few years ago with an intriguing pitch: What if you could have a notebook that works entirely through augmented reality glasses, without a built-in screen of its own? Unfortunately, we found the Spacetop experience to be underwhelming, and the hardware seemed like a tough sell for $1,900. Last Fall, Spacetop's creator Sightful told CNET that it was abandoning the screen-less laptop altogether and instead focusing on building AR software for Windows PCs. Now, we have a clearer sense of what Sightful is up to. Today, Sightful is officially launching Spacetop for Intel-powered Windows AI PCs, following a short trial launch from January. For $899 you get a pair of XREAL's Air Ultra 2 glasses and a year of Spacetop's software. Afterwards, you'll have to pay $200 annually for a subscription. The software works just like the original Spacetop concept -- it gives you a large 100-inch AR interface for doing all of your productivity work -- except now you're not stuck with the company's middling keyboard and other hardware. Spacetop might be compelling to AR fanatics who already own Intel AI PCs like the Surface Laptop Pro for Business, or a Dell XPS machine with the Core Ultra 7 chip. But if you don't have one of those computers, you'll have to add it to Spacetop's already high cost. And don't forget about prescription lenses: Those will run you $50 for single-vision and $150 for progressive. Spacetop doesn't support Intel chips without NPUs, as its AR interface requires constant AI processing. It doesn't work AMD or Qualcomm's AI CPUs, either. The company partnered with Intel to optimize Spacetop for its platform, which included help with understanding Intel's NPU architecture as well as tweaking its chips to help the AR software run better. In a conversation with Engadget, Sightful CEO Tamir Berliner noted that the company might pay more attention to other chip platforms if it gets similar attention. As for Mac support, Berliner said in a statement to Engadget: "Yes, we plan to create a version of Spacetop for Mac -- the timing is still TBD based on a lot of different factors regarding laptops, silicon, compute power, glasses, and more. We will be excited to share more news when we are able." Given its price and the strict PC requirements for using it, Spacetop clearly isn't meant for a wide audience. But there are potential benefits for early adopters. Its large AR screen could make it easier to multitask without large monitors, and it's also easier to focus on your apps since Spacetop vastly simplifies the Windows 11 interface. There are some obvious privacy benefits, too, since no one else can see what you're looking at in AR. The big downside, though, is that you'll have to get used to wearing Xreal's large Air 2 Ultra glasses. When we demoed it at CES, we found it to be an improvement over previous Xreal frames, thanks to their sharp 1080p micro-OLED displays and wider field of view. The Air 2 Ultra are also notable for having 6DoF tracking, which allows you to move around AR objects. While sleeker than the Vision Pro, the glasses are still pretty clunky, and you'll also have to snap in additional prescription frames if necessary. I'll need to see this latest iteration of Spacetop in action before making any final judgments, but it's clearly a more viable concept as an app that can work on a variety of laptops. Nobody wants to buy bespoke hardware like the old Spacetop laptop, no matter how good of a party trick it may be.

Spacetop puts a massive multi-window workspace in front of your eyes

A huge multi-window virtual workspace in front of your eyesSightful Back in 2023, tech startup Sightful developed a hardware/software system that put a huge virtual computer screen in front of your eyes. Now the company has dropped the hardware component and tweaked the software to work with AI laptops. Sightful says that due to the rapid development of computer systems with built-in neural processing, the Spacetop system no longer requires a dedicated hardware component - allowing the company to focus its attention on the software. As such, the newly-launched Spacetop for Windows will work with laptops designed around a NPU/CPU/GPU architecture - such as the Microsoft Surface Laptop for Business, Lenovo's Yoga Slim, the HP Elitebook and the Swift Go 14 from Acer. That's by no means a comprehensive list, and compatible units are expected to grow quickly - with Canalys reportedly suggesting that 60% of all PCs will be AI-capable by 2027. Like the original package, users will still need to don a pair of AR glasses to see the 100-inch display area in front of their eyes. But this latest US$899 bundle includes XReal's 83-g (3-oz) Air Ultra 2 wearable plus a year's Spacetop subscription thrown in (after which it will cost $200 per annum). Optical lenses can be optioned in too: single-vision lens inserts are priced at $50, while progressive-vision inserts cost $150. So yes, you'll need to already own a modern AI laptop that supports spatial computing, or such a device will need to be acquired in order to make use of this system. You'll be rewarded with an expansive virtual workspace that can accommodate multi-window visuals, and is designed to offer a "natural OS experience" while "intuitive keystrokes" on the host laptop's keyboard can move windows around, or push them back and forth in the virtual workspace. The software is reported compatible with "consumer and business apps that power productivity every day for Windows users." Sightful is promising bright and clear visuals indoors or out, and users benefit from private immersive sessions locked away from prying eyes. The workspace can also be saved for productivity on the go via a Travel Mode. "Spacetop is exactly why AI PCs were designed - it unlocks the true power of the architecture," company co-founder and CEO, Tamir Berliner. "For four years while we developed Spacetop, the number one request from users and businesses was 'When is it coming to Windows?' Today is that day. The rise of AI laptops not only accelerated our mission to use software to reach scale but unlocked huge new possibilities for what an AR workspace can do when combined with the power of AI." Spacetop for Windows launches today, and the software is bundled with a pair of AR glasses and a 12-month Spacetop subscription for $899. The system is also being made available outside the US for the first time, starting with Germany in partnership with Deutsche Telekom. The video below has more.

This Spacetop and AR glasses combo turns your Windows machine into a spatial computer that you'll have to see to believe

Spacetop won't let you lose your mouse, no matter how many apps you have open in your AR workspace AR glasses are better than ever, with full visual fidelity and lighter components making AR workspaces more and more useful for professionals. The big problem? Computer operating systems aren't designed to work in the AR space: you can lose your cursor easily, you can't tilt your AR view for better posture when reclining, and if you're working on a train or bus and the vehicle turns, you can lose sight of your windows. Sightful's Spacetop for Windows is a software designed to ease those pain points and make working in AR as seamless as using a laptop. Spacetop requires a high-end AI PC and a pair of AR glasses, as the software needs powerful computing power and an AI engine to fully change the way you work. We got a preview of Spacetop at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, but the software is now officially ready for a commercial launch. Sightful has launched versions of Spacetop previously, using custom-built laptops with AI smartphone processors, but this latest launch is a software-only solution designed to work with modern Windows laptops and cutting-edge AR glasses. Spacetop is an AR productivity software that gives you a virtual canvas where you can open all of your Windows applications in one place and arrange them as you see fit. While you can connect a pair of AR glasses right to your laptop to work, that often means your windows are still open on the laptop display, or you can't quite manage your multiple screens efficiently, since the software just reproduces a standard Windows display rather than give you a separate, private AR workspace. Spacetop offers a massive 100-inch virtual display for a multi-monitor or multi-window workspace that's both private and immersive. You have tilt and zoom controls to customize your ergonomics to suit your current environment. You can push, slide, and rotate your workspace as needed, bringing specific apps to the forefront when needed and dismissing them to the sides when you want to keep them in the background. Cutting-edge software does require some cutting-edge tech to power it. Spacetop for Windows is designed to work on laptops with a CPU/GPU/NPU combo, which includes the latest processors from Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD. At launch, Sightful recommends an Intel Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 9 processor from the 100 or 200 series, essentially an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H or higher CPU combined with an Intel Arc GPU. However, Co-founder and CEO Tamir Berliner tells Laptop Mag that he expects Qualcomm and AMD support to follow. As for the glasses part of Spacetop, Sightful recommends the XReal Air Ultra 2 AR glasses. If you've been wondering why you should upgrade to an AI PC for your next laptop, Berliner has an answer for you. As mentioned in Berliner's press statement provided to Laptop ahead of the announcement, "Spacetop is exactly why AI PCs were designed - it unlocks the true power of the architecture." Starting today, customers can order the Spacetop Bundle for $899. That price includes the XReal Air Ultra 2 AR glasses and a 12-month Spacetop subscription. The software subscription renews annually for $200. You can purchase optical lenses for vision correction, so you don't need to wear the XReal glasses over your prescription glasses. Single-vision lens inserts cost $50 while progressive-vision inserts cost $150. If you already have the XReal Air Ultra or XReal Air 2 AR glasses and want to purchase the Spacetop for Windows software by itself, you'll need to contact Sightful directly for pricing and to ensure your hardware and firmware meet the required specs for full functionality. Sightful has partnered with Intel, SHI International Corp, and Deutsche Telekom to make Spacetop for Windows available to the corporate sector in the US and Europe.