ASUS confirms augmented reality glasses for 2016

Virtual and augmented reality is the tech sector to be in these days and Asus has just announced that it will be joining the club as well. The company plans to release its own augmented reality headset sometime in 2016, so we’re not sure quite how far away the launch is.

The announcement of the plans came during today’s earnings call. We don’t have any other details about ASUS’ hardware at this point, nor what sort of price the company is looking at or even a name. But it is on the way.

“We think AR will be very important for people’s lives … It should be next year when we come out with a product.” – ASUS CEO Jerry Shen

While virtual reality is looking rather promising for immersive and interactive entertainment, augmented reality is designed to enhance seemingly more mundane activities. Useful potential applications range from assisted navigation and heads up displays, to bringing a whole world of interactive options and data into your field of view.

Both Microsoft and Google are also working on augmented reality projects of their own, see HoloLens and Magic Leap, and are considered the front runners in the space at the moment. Interestingly, ASUS was in talks with Microsoft about producing a cheaper version of its HoloLens technology back in October, so perhaps this announcement is related.

Microsoft’s HoloLens developer edition is scheduled to launch early next year, but will come with a whopping $3,000 (AU$4,258, ‎£1,985) price tag. If ASUS can undercut this prohibitive cost, then perhaps it can make its own mark in the AR space.