ReportWire

Tag: AR

  • Go Beyond 20/20 With These WIRED-Tested Smart Glasses

    Other Smart Glasses We’ve Tested

    We’ve tested several more pairs of smart glasses—some good and some bad.

    Even Realities G2

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    Even Realities G2 for $599: We have not fully reviewed the Even Realities G2 yet—we have spent a little time with the hardware but are awaiting a prescription model for proper testing. There are a few bugs with the software, but Even Realities’ second-gen glasses are impressive. Thin, light, and easily passable for standard glasses, these don’t have a camera or speaker; instead, they focus on extending your smartphone with the display and microphone. The projected screen is 75 percent larger than the original G1, and you can thumb the R1 smart ring (separate purchase) to navigate the interface. You can see your notifications, translate real-time conversations, see navigation instructions, pin to-do lists, and talk to the company’s Even AI assistant about anything. There’s also a teleprompter function to convince people you’re a natural at public speaking. Again, the hardware is impressive, but we need to put these glasses through their paces; stay tuned for our full review soon. —Julian Chokkattu

    Image may contain Accessories Sunglasses and Glasses

    Photograph: Simon Hill

    RayNeo Air 3s Pro for $299: TCL-owned RayNeo offers many models, and I’ve tested several. The latest Air 3s Pro glasses boast a 201-inch virtual screen (1080p, 120 Hz, 1200 nits), but the 46-degree field of view lets it down a little. Both color vibrancy and brightness offer major upgrades over previous releases, like the Air 2s and the older TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses, and you can just about see the whole screen clearly (even after adjusting, I had to slide them down my nose a little to avoid blurring at the bottom). You will also need the lens shade to use them in brighter environments. While they are cheaper than our other virtual screen picks, I found them inferior in design, fit, and comfort. Rayneo has added some more on-device options, including spatial sound, but it didn’t work well for me, though the standard sound is fine. RayNeo’s software, required for 3 DoF, is still buggy and unpolished. This is a good virtual screen for the money, and perfectly suitable for watching movies and light gaming, but if you want more from your smart glasses, I’d pick a different pair.

    Chamelo Music Shield for $260: With a cool touch-control tint capability that enables you to adjust for the conditions, and built-in Bluetooth speakers for music, the Chamelo Music Shield could be up your sporty street. You can take these dimmable glasses from 17 to 63 percent light transmittance (almost clear to mirrored) by sliding your finger along the right temple. The sound quality is decent for glasses, but even cheap wireless earbuds sound better, and these are on the pricey side for their limited functionality.

    Image may contain Accessories Glasses Sunglasses Goggles Blade Razor and Weapon

    Photograph: Simon Hill

    Lucyd Reebok Octane for $199: Designed in partnership with Reebok for cyclists and runners, these lightweight Bluetooth sunglasses feature silver polarized lenses, good quality speakers, and 8-hour battery life. I enjoyed listening to music and podcasts while hiking, and I like that you can hear the world around you. The sound leakage isn’t too bad, so you won’t bother the people you pass. They also have physical controls that are much easier to use than touch controls, even when your hands are wet (they’re water-resistant, too). You can take calls, get directions, and ask your preferred AI assistant questions. Lucyd has been making Bluetooth sunglasses for several years now and offers a wide range of different styles. We also tried the Lucyd 2.0 Bluetooth Sunglasses a couple of years ago.

    Rokid Max 2 Glasses for $429: The Spider-Man style lenses give these comfortable smart glasses a bit of character, though they won’t be to everyone’s taste. They project a 215-inch screen (1080p, 120 Hz, 600 nits, 50-degree FoV) and boast diopter dials for focus adjustments, but I struggled to eliminate blurring around the edges, and instead of stylish electrochromic dimming, there’s a clip-on plastic blackout shield. I also tried the Rokid Station 2, which adds an Android TV interface to access entertainment apps, but also a trackpad and an air mouse for easier control. The original Rokid Station was a more basic portable Android TV.

    Don’t Bother

    Here’s the eyewear that fell short.

    Halliday Glasses for $499: While these could almost pass for chunky regular glasses, with a clever ring controller and a tiny unobtrusive display, I can confidently say they are not the future of smart glasses. After spending several uncomfortable hours trying to adjust the display to be readable, all I got was a headache. The ring seemed like a smart idea, but it’s big, ugly, plastic, laggy, and frustrating to use. The eavesdropping AI is slow, and squinting up to try and see the screeds of useless text it churns out is actually painful. The sound quality and battery life are equally awful.

    Amazon Echo Frames for $300: The Amazon Echo Frames (3/10, WIRED Review) are a bit old now, but you can still purchase them. Too bad they don’t do much. They work as sunglasses, filter blue light, and are IPX4-rated. Tech-wise, they have a speaker and microphone in each temple, and you can use them to query or command Alexa, as you would with a smart speaker, but there are no cameras here, making them far less capable than the similarly priced Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

    Image may contain Accessories Glasses Sunglasses and Scissors

    Photograph: Simon Hill

    Asus AirVision M1 for $399: I was excited to see Asus launch smart glasses, but the lack of fanfare was a red flag. My first impressions of the lightweight design were promising, and the M1 offers up to a 100-inch virtual display and impressive 1,100 nits brightness. Designed to plug into your phone, laptop, PC, or handheld gaming device, like the ROG Ally, via USB-C, the M1 also features built-in speakers and a microphone. Sadly, the refresh rate maxes out at 72 Hz and is limited to 60 Hz unless you employ the Airvision software, which also enables you to select different modes (working, gaming, infinity), tweak screen position, and set interpupillary distance (IPD). I found the in-focus sweet spot was small, and most of my virtual screen was blurry, no matter how I tweaked the settings, making them uncomfortable to use, especially for work. There’s also a basic plastic shield to block light, rather than electrochromic dimming, and the speaker quality is decidedly average, leaving me puzzled about why the price is so high.

    Solos AirGo Vision for $299: With a built-in AI assistant powered by ChatGPT, the Solos AirGo Vision adds a camera on top of the Bluetooth-connected speakers in the rest of its range. Grant it unfettered access to your location and photo library, and it can describe what you are seeing. The most obvious use cases are translation and navigation, though I’m not convinced about the accuracy of its suggestions. The design is interesting, with chunky temples housing the smarts and interchangeable frames. There’s no virtual screen or HUD, but you can get prescription lenses, and they look relatively normal. Sadly, the photo and audio quality are horrible, and the touch controls are frustratingly finicky. The app is also power hungry and demands too many permissions. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses do the same things better.

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    Simon Hill

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  • These AR Smart Glasses Tested My Patience in a Way I didn’t Think Was Possible

    Guys, I’m trying. Right now, as I type these words, I am trying on multiple levels. Trying to understand, trying to be fair, and I’m trying really, really hard to breathe through my nostrils, given the enormous weight of our AR glasses future resting uncomfortably on my nose.

    The thing is, you shouldn’t need to try hard to justify wearing AR smart glasses. Any pair that doesn’t just work is dead on arrival. I want the future, and the AR glasses that come with it. but unfortunately, with the $900 Inmo Air 3, trying is the best I’m going to get, and that, dear reader, is what I’d call a major drag.

    Inmo Air 3

    The Inmo Air 3 AR smart glasses should be avoided at all costs.

    • The screen can be sharp when you actually see it
    • Lots of cool ideas (in theory)
    • Bad fit on my face made the screen hard to see
    • The smart ring doesn’t work as promised
    • Bad build quality; parts started to break
    • A lot of money for something that doesn’t work
    • Aggravating in almost every way possible

    Inm-oh my God, please help

    Let’s start from the top. Inmo is a Chinese purveyor of smart glasses that recently launched its Inmo Air 3 via Kickstarter, a pair of Android-powered AR glasses that tout a few enticing ideas and features. One of those selling points is a full-color screen that is 1080p, and the other is a novel input method for navigating UI inside the glasses using a smart ring. Both of those ideas caught my attention during IFA 2025, which is why I chose to write about them in September. Those features, coupled with the fact that you can run pretty much any app in 2D by just downloading it from the Google Play Store via the glasses UI felt like they could be a winning combo.

    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    But in the world of gadgets, there are hits, and there are misses, and then there are complete and total whiffs, and the latter category is where Inmo’s Air 3 smart glasses fall for me, and the problems started almost immediately out of the box.

    Before we get to my list of grievances, I’ll start with a small positive, which is that the packaging is impressive, and so is the selection of stuff that comes with the smart glasses. In addition to the smart glasses, there’s a touch-sensitive ring with multiple buttons, a garage door-like touch controller if you don’t feel like using that, a magnetic cable for charging the ring, and magnetically attachable shades for when you want more contrast. That’s a lot of stuff, which is welcome, but that’s where the positive impressions stopped for me, because the first thing that jumped out when I put the smart glasses on was… I couldn’t see anything.

    I quickly discovered that it wasn’t a problem with the waveguide display inside the smart glasses; it was actually an issue with how they sit on my face. Like some other folks out there, I have a bump on my nose, which is a polite way of saying I have a big schnoz. Because of that, I have to wear glasses closer to my face (resting above the bump in my nose) as opposed to in the middle, where other folks might wear them. On one hand, that’s a physical thing specific to me. On the other hand, I am not the only person out there with a nose like this.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 19
    This is how far down my nose I have to wear the Inmo Air 3 smart glasses in order to see anything in them. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    Because of the way the Inmo Air 3 sit on my face, I actually can’t see two-thirds of the display when the smart glasses are in a comfortable, natural position on my nose. So, in order to see the full screen, I have to move them down my nose to where the smart glasses (and the nose pads) actually press my nostrils in, making it hard to, um… breathe. It’s really, incredibly, almost laughably not fun. And before you ask—no, you cannot adjust the position of a single screen on your face to fix it, and these smart glasses are far from lightweight, so, to avoid mouth-breathing for extended periods, I decided to test them out by holding them in the strange, unnatural position on my face that I could see best in. I did feel justified when two of my other colleagues put the Inmo Air 3 on and reported that the screen is faint and difficult to make out, so I’m not the only one. “They hurt my eyes,” was the exact first impression of Gizmodo Senior Editor of Consumer Tech, Raymond Wong, when he put them on.

    Needless to say, that’s not a great start, but it gets worse.

    I will not be putting a ring on it

    As I mentioned, one of the things I was most excited about was the inclusion of a smart ring for controlling the UI inside the smart glasses. It’s a pretty clever method for input that I haven’t yet tried, and felt (on the surface) like something that could catch on if executed properly. I say if here because novel hardware is a lot harder to make than it sounds on paper, and there’s always a chance that it doesn’t work right. And boy, does Inmo’s ring (called the Ring 3) not work right.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 15
    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    The Ring 3, which connects to the Inmo Air 3 smart glasses via Bluetooth, has quite a bit of latency, which makes using it a little aggravating. While I got more adept the longer I used it, the touch surface is rather small, and combined with the lag, I found it to be imprecise at best. Nah, let’s be honest, it was a nightmare. Luckily, though, I was relieved from having to use the Ring 3 fairly quickly. While attempting to adjust the size by bending the plastic part that wraps around your finger (this is how the ring is intended to be resized), it started to break, separating from the hard plastic where all the touch-sensitive hardware and buttons live. Not realizing, I attempted to adjust even further (I wasn’t applying Hulk-like force here, I promise), and it started to crack.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 17
    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    So, that was that for the ring for me. I couldn’t resize it to fit properly on my finger without breaking it further, so I did the rest of my testing using a combination of the Inmo Air 3’s touch-sensitive surface on the right side of the smart glasses (similar to how Meta’s Ray-Bans work) and the garage door remote-like controller that I mentioned earlier. The latter worked fine, but it feels incredibly cheap and is far from perfect.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 18
    This is the other controller that works with the Inmo Air 3. It didn’t break like the Ring 3. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    I wouldn’t describe the touchpad on the front of the device, where you use your thumb to direct a cursor, as being super responsive, but it gets the job done. You’ll wind up having to tap things multiple times to register a “click” in the UI, but I suppose it’s better than trying to use a broken smart ring if just by virtue of the fact that it technically works. There are some physical buttons on the non-ring touch controller that allow you to go back, go home, control the volume, and pull up the camera, which is nice if you get tired of not having your taps registered.

    And if both those controllers fail, there are touch and tap controls on the right arm of the smart glasses and volume buttons on the left arm.

    But what about that 1080p display?

    Once I was able to navigate the Inmo Air 3 properly, I could start actually using them. That, in theory, should have been the exciting part, but the highs weren’t exactly what I would call soaring. First, there was the irksome part of getting the AR smart glasses online, which I had to do entirely through the Inmo UI. While there is an Inmo app for iOS and Android, my app wouldn’t register the smart glasses and connect, so any added functionality through the app was unusable. So, to enter Wi-Fi credentials, I had to select my network in the Air 3 and painstakingly punch in passwords one character at a time using the garage door remote. I managed to do that without giving up, luckily, and was able to download some apps in the Google Play Store.

    inmo air 3 screenshot
    © Screenshot by James Pero / Gizmodo

    The first place I went was YouTube, where I loaded up some cooking content. The experience was pretty nice, though I definitely wish the smart glasses weren’t crushing my nose while I was watching. I could see, on someone whose face fits the smart glasses, that watching things could be enjoyable in the Inmo Air 3, if not altogether groundbreaking. Sure, the Inmo Air 3 are more lightweight than a VR headset, but they’re nowhere near as immersive as watching in a Quest 3 and much less premium than an Apple Vision Pro, though that’s admittedly a tough comparison.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 07
    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    I also downloaded TikTok and scrolled through some videos for good measure, and that experience was also fine, though I can’t say it was preferable to just pulling out my phone and zoning out that way. The screen is definitely the strongest part of the Inmo Air 3; it’s sharp, and watching content feels surprisingly hi-fi given it’s just some waveguides displays shoved into a pair of glasses. The brightness isn’t the best, though. While Meta’s Ray-Ban Display tops out at an impressive 5,000 nits of brightness and works well in full natural light, the Inmo Air 3 reaches just 600 nits. Even just using the AR smart glasses in my office on a sunny day was enough to kill contrast, though a magnetic attachment that gives the lenses shade does help. But, to be honest, that’s not the only reason I wouldn’t wear Inmo’s Air 3 outside…

    Not the look I’m looking for

    If you saw Inmo’s Air 3 in renderings like I did and thought, “those look like smart glasses I could wear on the subway,” you may want to think again. The Air 3 are big smart glasses. The frames are thick, which is bad for someone like me who has a relatively small head, though even if you don’t look as dumb as I do when you wear them, you might feel dumb just because of the weight. The big lenses also don’t pass for normal glasses, and there’s a non-zero chance someone might assume you have a visual impairment if you walk around with them on.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 06
    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    I think what’s more aggravating about the size is the fact that battery life doesn’t seem to be particularly great. After every session (about 20 to 30 minutes), I felt like I should charge the Inmo Air 3 up since a significant chunk of the battery was gone. While Inmo doesn’t offer official battery life estimates, there’s a 660mAh battery on board, and in my estimate, you can expect between 1.5 to 2 hours max with continuous use. That’s not great, obviously, but all of that 1080p goodness is going to come at a cost.

    If you’re not bringing the smart glasses outside with you, it kind of renders some features useless, like the ability to take pictures. That’s mostly okay, though, because I took some snaps with the Inmo Air 3 and they were not very high-res. While it technically has a higher megapixel camera than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 and Gen 2 (the Air 3 has a 16-megapixel sensor, and Meta’s smart glasses have a 12-megapixel sensor), the quality somehow looks worse.

    Inmo’s Air 3 seem kind of stuck in a liminal space between display-free smart glasses and thicker AR smart glasses like Snapchat’s Spectacles. Clearly, Inmo thinks this is a product you’d want to walk around with on your face, based on its marketing, but in practice, they still feel like a stay-at-home gadget due to the not-so-great battery life, the chunky size, and the general lack of convenience. Maybe your level of comfort with them will vary, but from where I’m sitting, style is not the Inmo Air 3’s strong suit. In fact, I don’t know that a strong suit exists…

    Good ideas that don’t come together at all

    There’s more that you can do with these smart glasses, but unfortunately, I wasn’t really able to test it all because of the hiccups with the hardware. One area that I would have liked to test was cloud gaming, since the idea of being able to play on a big virtual screen (like you can do in a Meta Quest 3) is kind of awesome. I wasn’t able to really do that, though, since the Inmo Air 3 don’t sit properly on my face, and I basically had to hold them up with one hand while I tested. And as we all know, holding a typical controller historically requires two hands.

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 13
    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    There’s also a multi-window mode where you can have up to three different windows open simultaneously, but that mode requires the use of the Ring 3, which as I’ve already established, was basically unusable for me. It’s a shame, in a lot of ways, that Inmo’s Air 3 is as rough as it is, because there are a lot of interesting ideas. I love the idea of a ring-based wearable (but it has to not crumble in your hands), being able to download any app and use it in 2D is freeing (but only if you can see the apps), and wearing the smart glasses around would be like having a real computer on your face (but you have to actually want to feel comfortable putting them on for that to work).

    Inmo Air 3 Smartglasses Review 14
    © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

    Unfortunately, for people interested in AR, the Inmo Air 3 just feel like more trouble than they’re worth. Yes, they’re a crowdfunded gadget, and you should expect some wonkiness from that category, but at $900 (that’s early bird pricing, the future MSRP is actually $1,100) I don’t think lack of polish to this degree is something anyone should put up with. If nothing else, It makes you appreciate the refinement of glasses like the Meta Ray-Ban Display, and even if they don’t do quite as much on paper. So, while I wouldn’t ever recommend paying for AR smart glasses like this, sometimes just knowing how bad things can get is its own kind of reward, and in the name of that crucial knowledge, I tortured my nose and face so you don’t have to.

    James Pero

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  • Samsung’s Galaxy XR Mixed Reality Headset Undercuts Apple’s Vision Pro by $1,700

    It has been five years since Samsung and Google stopped supporting their respective mobile virtual reality headsets. For a second try, the companies have partnered up with a bolder vision in the mixed reality space, starting with the new Galaxy XR. Announced last year as Project Moohan, it’s the first headset powered by Android XR, a new platform for smart glasses and headsets built on Android and Google’s Gemini assistant from the ground up.

    The Galaxy XR is available today in the US and South Korea for $1,800. (You can finance it for $149 per month for 12 months.) That’s a leap over standard VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3, but a significantly lower price than the $3,499 Vision Pro, which Apple is refreshing this week with the new M5 processor.

    Galactic Vision

    Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

    I was able to demo the headset again last week at a closed-doors media event in New York City held by Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm—the Galaxy XR is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip—but not much was different from my original hands-on experience last year, which you can read more about here. The official name and price were the two big question marks, but that has now been addressed.

    The Galaxy XR purports to do nearly everything that Apple’s device does. Pop the headset on and you’ll be able to see the room you’re in through the pancake lenses and layer virtual content over it, or whisk yourself off to another world. Your hands are the input (controllers are available as a separate purchase), and it uses eye tracking to see what you want to select. You can access all your favorite apps from the Google Play Store; XR apps will have a “Made for XR” label.

    Samsung’s headset is more plasticky and doesn’t feel as premium as Apple’s Vision Pro—I noticed the tethered battery pack on a demo unit looked well-worn with fingerprint smudges on the coating. But this general construction makes it feel significantly lighter to wear. I wasn’t able to try it for a long period, but it felt comfortable, with the only issue being a sweaty brow after a 25-minute bout with it on. The headset was warm at the top, but the battery pack remained relatively cool. Speaking of, the battery lasts 2 hours or 2.5 hours if you’re purely watching video. That’s on par with the original Vision Pro, though the M5 version extends it to 2.5 with mixed use.

    Julian Chokkattu

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  • Niantic’s Peridot, the Augmented Reality Alien Dog, Is Now a Talking Tour Guide

    Imagine you’re walking your dog. It interacts with the world around you—sniffing some things, relieving itself on others. You walk down the Embarcadero in San Francisco on a bright sunny day, and you see the Ferry Building in the distance as you look out into the bay. Your dog turns to you, looks you in the eye, and says, “Did you know this waterfront was blocked by piers and a freeway for 100 years?”

    OK now imagine your dog looks like an alien and only you can see it. That’s the vision for a new capability created for the Niantic Labs AR experience Peridot.

    Niantic, also the developer of the worldwide AR behemoth Pokémon Go, hopes to build out its vision of extending the metaverse into the real world by giving people the means to augment the space around them with digital artifacts. Peridot is a mobile game that lets users customize and interact with their own little Dots—dog-sized digital companions that appear on your phone’s screen and can look like they’re interacting with the world objects in the view of your camera lens. They’re very cute, and yes, they look a lot like Pokémon. Now, they can talk.

    Peridot started as a mobile game in 2022, then got infused with generative AI features. The game has since moved into the hands of Niantic Spatial, a startup created in April that aims to turn geospatial data into an accessible playground for its AR ambitions. Now called Peridot Beyond, it has been enabled in Snap’s Spectacles.

    Hume AI, a startup running a large language model that aims to make chatbots seem more empathetic, is now partnering with Niantic Spatial to bring a voice to the Dots on Snap’s Spectacles. The move was initially announced in September, but now it’s ready for the public and will be demonstrated at Snap’s Lens Fest developer event this week.

    Snap’s latest Spectacles, its augmented reality smart glasses.

    Courtesy of Snap

    Boone Ashworth

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  • Snap is bringing shopping features to its AR glasses

    Snap is continuing to lay the groundwork for its first consumer-ready AR glasses called Specs. While the company has still revealed few details about the device set to launch next year, it used its Lens Fest event to preview new features and apps that will work on the new hardware.

    At the event dedicated to AR developers and creators, Snap said it would enable Specs users to buy items directly from their glasses. Snap CTO Bobby Murphy said that new software tools called Commerce Kit would allow “select developers to accept payments directly inside lenses,” either for “digital goods” or as upgrades to unlock “premium features.”

    Snap already allows lens creators to make money off AR effects via its Lens Creator rewards program, but offering in-lens commerce could allow the company to monetize its AR platform in a new way. “This is the start of developer monetization for lenses on Specs, and we plan to continue to find ways you can build sustainable businesses on our platform,” Murphy said.

    Whether this could turn into a meaningful business for Snap is less clear. The company has so far released two versions of its standalone AR glasses, but those devices have been aimed at Snap developers not users. That’s set to change next year with its next version of glasses. CEO Evan Spiegel has promised the new glasses will be “lightweight” compared with the current bulky and awkward-looking frames, but has said little else about the design.

    When Specs do launch, we know there will be a solid lineup of AR features available. Snap has already released a standalone experience for watching Spotlight videos and a more powerful web browser. There’s also a new translation lens that can translate and transcribe audio in real-time.

    There are more AR integrations in the works, according to Snap. Tripadvisor is working on an AR lens that will overlay “trusted insights” into your field-of-view as you encounter restaurants, shops and other establishments in the real world. Design platform Figma is also working on a lens, though Snap didn’t share details about how these will work.

    The updates are a reminder of how ambitious Snap’s vision for AR glasses is. The company has been nurturing an ecosystem of AR creators and developers for years; it’s now getting ready to carry that work over to its nascent glasses platform. “We see Specs powering everything from classrooms to design studios, creating opportunities and work for developers in entirely new categories,” Murphy said.

    Jim Lanzone, the CEO of Engadget’s parent company Yahoo, joined the board of directors at Snap on September 12, 2024. No one outside of Engadget’s editorial team has any say in our coverage of the company.

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  • Meta’s New Smart Glasses Got a Subtle Name Change. It Speaks Volumes About What’s Wrong With Them

    The whole experience—from the quality of the display itself, to the gesture controls and the on-glasses capabilities—all feels polished and intuitive, particularly considering this is Meta’s first commercial stab at such a product.

    But here’s the problem: As impressive as they are, I still wouldn’t buy them. Outside of tech fans and early adopters, I don’t think a lot of people will. Not this iteration, anyway. And that’s not even because of the arguably punchy $800 price tag.

    The thing that truly lets them down is their aesthetic, and that’s not what I expected from the company that made such a success of the original Ray-Ban Metas because of their design. While the originals (and their just-announced successors) basically look like Ray-Ban glasses, these, in what can only be described as a glaring faux pas, are far from being fashion-first. They look like smart glasses, but the old kind you don’t really want to be seen wearing.

    The chunk factor cannot be ignored.

    Courtesy of Verity Burns

    Oh, there is a whiff of the Wayfarer about the Meta Ray-Ban Display; you can tell the intention is there to try and replicate the success of the most popular Ray-Ban style. But somehow distant alarm bells are ringing. Even though “statement glasses” are fashionable, these are just a bit too chunky to blend in.

    At a glance, you can tell that something is going on with them. We’ve arrived in the uncanny valley of smart glasses, where the subtle bulges and added girth of the frames demand your attention, but not in a good way.

    Interestingly, there is a subtle nod to this shift in aesthetics in the naming structure. While the original Ray-Ban Meta glasses lead with the Ray-Ban branding in their name, the Meta Ray-Ban Display switch that focus around. Which of the two brands made that call hasn’t been made clear, but these are Meta’s self-branded, tech-first glasses, and that feels a like misstep, especially considering the experience Meta already has in the market.

    Verity Burns

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  • Intrinsic Motivation: Why It’s Lacking in Students and How to Foster It

    Intrinsic Motivation: Why It’s Lacking in Students and How to Foster It

    The drive to engage and motivate students is a critical factor in their ability to learn and retain knowledge. Developing these for learners creates the conditions where they are giving their attention and want to learn. Motivation comes in two forms: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic is often related to a drive to finish, to achieve […]

    The post Intrinsic Motivation: Why It’s Lacking in Students and How to Foster It appeared first on Discovery Education Blog.

    Phil Birchinall

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  • RayNeo Air 2s: A Step Forward in XR Wearable Technology

    RayNeo Air 2s: A Step Forward in XR Wearable Technology

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    The RayNeo Air 2s is making waves in the world of augmented reality (AR) with its thoughtful approach to design and functionality. As the latest offering from RayNeo, a company known for pushing the boundaries of consumer AR, the Air 2s aims to enhance everyday experiences through improved visuals, audio, and comfort. This article takes a closer look at what sets the RayNeo Air 2s apart, exploring its display, audio innovations, and design features without the fluff.

    Elevating Visual Experiences with MicroOLED Technology

    One of the standout features of the RayNeo Air 2s is its use of Sony’s 0.55-inch MicroOLED display, which offers a crisp and immersive visual experience. The display is capable of producing up to 5000 nits of brightness, ensuring clarity even in brightly lit environments. With a viewing experience equivalent to a 201-inch screen, the Air 2s transforms everyday tasks like watching videos or playing games into something more engaging.

    Customization is a key element here, with the glasses offering three color modes that allow users to adjust contrast, temperature, and saturation to suit their preferences. This level of control makes it easier to tailor the visuals to different situations, whether you’re outside in the sun or indoors under dim lighting. The enhancements in the eye box, reduction in distortion, and improved edge clarity all contribute to a more comfortable and lifelike viewing experience.

    Audio That Stands Out in the Crowd

    RayNeo Air 2s

    RayNeo hasn’t just focused on visuals; the Air 2s also brings significant improvements to audio, a feature often overlooked in wearable tech. The inclusion of a symmetric 4-speaker system is a notable upgrade, offering a level of sound quality typically reserved for high-fidelity audio setups. Whether you’re listening to music, watching a movie, or playing a game, the sound is clear and immersive, with a balance of high notes and deep bass that enhances the overall experience.

    The Air 2s also addresses a common issue with wearable audio devices: sound leakage. Using phase cancellation technology and Whisper Mode 2.0, RayNeo has managed to create a more private listening experience. This means that even when you’re in close quarters with others, your audio remains discreet, ensuring that you’re not disturbing those around you.

    A Thoughtful Approach to Comfort and Design

    When it comes to wearables, comfort is just as important as performance, and RayNeo has clearly taken this into account with the Air 2s. Weighing in at just 78 grams, these glasses are designed to be lightweight and comfortable for long-term use. The Two-tone Injection Molding Technology used in their construction allows for a durable yet flexible fit, combining a sturdy exterior with a soft, adaptable interior.

    The design also includes nine adjustable points on the temples and nose pads, allowing users to fine-tune the fit according to their facial features. This attention to detail ensures that the glasses sit comfortably and securely, reducing the likelihood of discomfort during extended use.

    Versatile Compatibility and Practical Accessories

    The RayNeo Air 2s is designed to integrate seamlessly with a variety of devices, including smartphones, PCs, and game consoles that support DisplayPort over USB-C. For gamers, the option to pair the glasses with the JoyDock—a unique accessory designed for the Nintendo Switch—adds another layer of versatility. This setup turns the Switch into a portable, large-screen gaming device, offering an immersive experience that’s both practical and fun.

    Another noteworthy accessory is the Pocket TV, a compact device with a 6,500mAh battery that provides over five hours of video playback. When combined with the RayNeo Air 2s, it offers a portable streaming solution with access to Google TV’s vast library of content.

    Conclusion

    The RayNeo Air 2s represents a thoughtful evolution in wearable technology, offering improvements in display quality, audio performance, and ergonomic design. With a focus on enhancing user experiences in a practical way, these XR glasses are a solid choice for those looking to explore the potential of augmented reality. Available now for $399, the RayNeo Air 2s is a compelling option for tech enthusiasts who value both innovation and comfort.

    Al Hilal

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  • 7 Most Affordable Places to Live in Arkansas in 2024

    7 Most Affordable Places to Live in Arkansas in 2024

    Arkansas is filled with natural beauty from the Ozark Mountains to the Hot Springs National Park, perfect for outdoor enthusiasts. And with charming small towns and vibrant city centers, there are plenty of reasons to consider calling Arkansas home. If you’ve been debating moving to Arkansas or are hoping to relocate to a new city, you also probably have a budget you’d like to stay under as you look for a place to live. When it comes to buying a home in Arkansas the median home sale price is $263,800. 

    Don’t worry if that price doesn’t fit in your budget – we’ve got options to help you find a home or apartment that does. Redfin has collected the 7 of the most affordable places to live in Arkansas. And the best part is that they all have a median home sale price under $263,800. From Little Rock to Jonesboro, let’s jump in and see what cities are on the list.

    #1: Pine Bluff

    Median home price: $100,000
    Average sale price per square foot: $62
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $637
    Median household income: $39,411
    Nearest major metro: Little Rock (45 miles)
    Pine Bluff, AR homes for sale
    Pine Bluff, AR apartments for rent

    Taking the first spot on our list of affordable places to live in Arkansas is Pine Bluff. This charming city is located in the heart of Arkansas and is home to about 39,100 people. The median home sale price is $100,000, which is $163K less than the state’s average. If you’re looking for things to do in Pine Bluff, you can visit the Arkansas Railroad Museum, stop by the AGFC Delta Rivers Nature Center in the expansive Pine Bluff Regional Park, or check out the local shops and restaurants in town.

    #2: Hot Springs

    Median home price: $165,750
    Average sale price per square foot: $132
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $870
    Median household income: $46,537
    Nearest major metro: Little Rock (55 miles)
    Hot Springs, AR homes for sale
    Hot Springs, AR apartments for rent

    Home to about 37,900 residents is the affordable city of Hot Springs. Located in the Ouachita Mountains, Hot Springs is a popular destination for exploring the mountains and the iconic Hot Springs National Park. There is plenty to do in Hot Springs, whether you’re hiking the West Mountain Trail, visiting the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center and Museum, or checking out the local distilleries, cafes, and shops in town.

    arkansas river in north little rock_shutterstock

    #3: North Little Rock

    Median home price: $185,000
    Average sale price per square foot: $129
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $627
    Median household income: $45,590
    Nearest major metro: Little Rock (3 miles)
    North Little Rock, AR homes for sale
    North Little Rock, AR apartments for rent

    With a median home sale price of $185,000, North Little Rock claims the third spot on our list of affordable places to live in Arkansas. About 64,600 people live in this city and it’s roughly 3 miles north of the nearest major metropolitan area Little Rock. If you’re considering moving to this area make sure to spend the day outside at Burns Park or Emerald Park, explore the Park Hill Historic District and stop by The Old Mill. You can also stroll along the riverfront or visit the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

    #4: Fort Smith

    Median home price: $220,000
    Average sale price per square foot: $132
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $675
    Median household income: $48,033
    Nearest major metro: Tulsa, OK (120 miles)
    Fort Smith, AR homes for sale
    Fort Smith, AR apartments for rent

    The fourth spot on our list of affordable cities to live in Arkansas is Fort Smith. When living in this city of 89,200 people, you can visit parks like Ben Geren Regional Park or Fort Smith Park, check out historic sites and museums like Fort Smith National Historic Site, Fort Smith Museum of History, and the Clayton House, or stroll along the Ronnie Udouj Walking Trail.

    #5: Jonesboro

    Median home price: $230,750
    Average sale price per square foot: $137
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $840
    Median household income: $48,901
    Nearest major metro: Memphis, TN (70 miles)
    Jonesboro, AR homes for sale
    Jonesboro, AR apartments for rent

    Fifth is Jonesboro where about 78,600 residents currently live. The median home sale price is $230,750 which is about $30K less than the median home sale price in Arkansas. If you find yourself moving to this affordable place, make sure to explore the Arkansas State University campus, check out downtown Jonesboro, and spend the day at Craighead Forest Lake where you can camp, hike the trails, or fish. 

    Little Rock is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the county seat of Pulaski County

    #6: Little Rock

    Median home price: $247,150
    Average sale price per square foot: $144
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $830
    Median household income: $48,033
    Little Rock, AR homes for sale
    Little Rock, AR apartments for rent

    Another great area to add to your list is Little Rock. Home to 202,600 residents, this affordable town can be a great option to add to your list. In Little Rock, you can visit the Little Rock Zoo, check out riverfront parks like Murray Park or Rebsamen Park, and stop by the Arkansas State Capitol building. There are countless museums in Little Rock like the Historic Arkansas Museum, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, William J. Clinton Library and Museum, and the Museum of Discovery.

    #7: Benton

    Median home price: $253,616
    Average sale price per square foot: $142
    Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $730
    Median household income: $66,868
    Nearest major metro: Little Rock (25 miles)
    Benton, AR homes for sale
    Benton, AR apartments for rent

    The final city to make our list of the most affordable places to live in Arkansas is Benton. Located southwest of Little Rock, Benton has about 37,500 residents, so it’s a great option if you’re looking for a smaller city. In Benton, be sure to visit green spaces like Tyndall Park or Bernard Holland Park, check out the charming downtown, or golf at one of the many courses in town.

    Methodology: All cities must have over 35,000 residents per the US Census and have a median home sale price under the average median home sale price in Arkansas. Median home sale price and median sale price per square foot from the Redfin Data Center during July 2024. Average rental data from Rent.com July 2023. Population and median household income data sourced from the United States Census Bureau.

    Alison Bentley

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  • Best of ISTE24: AR and VR Continue to Get Real

    Best of ISTE24: AR and VR Continue to Get Real

    While the acronym AI continued to take up the most oxygen in the convention hall this summer in Denver, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies continue to evolve as a practical classroom application as well. I was happy to have my annual VR state-of-play conversation Chris Klein, vice president of education at Avantis Education, who is frank about the potentials and pitfalls of these tools. Have a listen:

    Avantis is the creator of ClassVR, an all-in-one VR/AR headset and content platform designed specifically for K-12 classrooms. Used by more than 2 million students in 200,000 classrooms in 90 countries, it includes all hardware, software, tools, training, support and implementation services needed to deploy VR/AR in the classroom. It also provides access to the Eduverse platform, ClassVR’s library of content which gives teachers access to hundreds of thousands of pieces of VR and AR content and resources to enhance lessons and engage students more deeply in their learning.

    Key Takeaways:

    1. Evolution of AR and VR: From novelty to educational tool, AR and VR continue to integrate into mainstream education, enhancing engagement and learning outcomes.
    2. Educational Integration: AR and VR serve as supplements to traditional teaching methods, enriching lessons without disrupting established curricula.
    3. Future Hardware Development: Avantis teases a prototype of a device at ISTI, signaling a commitment to evolving hardware that aligns closely with educational needs and educator feedback.
    4. Industry Standards: The arrival of major players like Apple and Meta in the AR and VR space is expected to set industry standards and improve interoperability across platforms, benefiting educators and students alike.

    New this year: ClassVR is launching Eduverse360 –an expanded library featuring more than 300,000 360° images and videos from around the globe allowing teachers to take students on compelling, immersive field trips without leaving the classroom. Responding to increased demand for curriculum-aligned content across all subjects, new math resources are also being designed to make learning relevant, accessible, and fun. Popular English resources have been expanded to support English language teaching for K-2 and English as an additional language. While in biology students can shrink down to insect size to see pollination in action like never before.

    Avantis also introduced software enhancements designed to improve the user experience. These updates include:

    • A redesigned homepage that features curated playlists and subject-based browsing for easier navigation. 
    • ClassVR’ s teacher and student notes can now be viewed in a sidebar alongside the VR content, enhancing the educational experience.
    • Teachers will also benefit from the dynamic preview of 3D models, allowing them to quickly assess and view models with just a few clicks.
    • User and content management enhancements, including streamlined administrator management of playlists and updates to administrator controls.
    • New professional development options. Beginning July 1, 2024, all customers get free access to Avantis’ online continuing professional development (CPD) training materials to assist them with self-paced instruction on how to use ClassVR. New customers also have expanded options for training packages.
    Kevin Hogan
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    Kevin Hogan

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  • My Life Outside of the Apple Vision Pro

    My Life Outside of the Apple Vision Pro

    This has become a pattern: One minute he’s not wearing the headset, and the next he is. The transition would always happen unexpectedly—when I’d leave the room to jump in the shower, do my makeup in the bathroom, or get ready to go out.

    One time, after I finished brushing my teeth before bed, I walked out to the living room to find him sitting on the edge of the couch, staring into the distance with the Vision Pro firmly on his head. He was playing chess. I sat down next to him and watched in silence as he pinched his fingers and moved imaginary chess pieces through the air in multiple directions—left, right, diagonal—slowly pulling back to observe his opponent’s (a computer) next move.

    During similar interactions, I’d always ask, “Can I try?” In an attempt to persuade me to love the Vision Pro as much as he does, he’d always oblige. It’s not that I’m totally against owning my own headset, but I struggle to understand the need for it in its current form. Aside from the outrageous $3,500 price and heavy frame, I know that I’ll never reach for it as much as I do my iPhone, MacBook, or iPad. I’m content with my setup. Besides, shouldn’t that mean one per household is enough if you spend that much? Unfortunately, sharing the experience feels more like a hassle than fun.

    For starters, you have to log in to Guest Mode each time, so I’m forced to go through the 90-second calibration test every time. I also wear glasses. Technically, I’m supposed to buy the prescription Zeiss Optical Inserts. But I refuse to give Apple $150 because of something completely out of my control. It’s also annoying to think that you’d have to spend even more money if you live in a household with multiple people wearing glasses.

    I’ve also never had a problem using other headsets, like the Meta Quest 2, with glasses. And so, out of pure spite, I continue calibrating the Vision Pro with my glasses on anyway. It’s not foolproof—the internal eye-tracking cameras sometimes struggle to pinpoint where my eyes are looking. Some things, like spending time in virtual Mount Hood, watching Spiderman: No Way Home in 3D, and browsing the web on Safari, are easy. But anything that requires more precise eye-tracking, such as navigating visionOS or attempting to play a game, is a struggle.

    A Problem Shared

    When my boyfriend and I wanted to share the experience in any way, shape, or form, we’d try casting content on the TV using AirPlay. Unfortunately, a simple task like watching a movie wasn’t very successful. We tried watching Mean Girls, but because it’s on a streaming service, the content was blacked out on both the Vision Pro and the TV because of copyright.

    Meanwhile, playing a game like Fruit Ninja on the big screen is fun for only so long. Every time we wanted to switch players, we’d have to go back and forth between his profile and Guest Mode. I couldn’t help but think back to how easy this process was with a headset like the Quest 2. A few years back, when my dad, brother, and I played The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners for a few hours together, we simply passed the headset around between the three of us and jumped into the game without having to switch profiles or tinker with the settings. On the Vision Pro, however, my boyfriend and I must’ve played for a total of 10 minutes before the whole experience started to get boring.

    Brenda Stolyar

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  • 7 Awesome Little Rock Suburbs to Live in 2024

    7 Awesome Little Rock Suburbs to Live in 2024

    Often called “the Rock,” Little Rock, AR, is an iconic Southern city. There are countless things to do in the city whether you visit historic places like Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and Clinton Presidential Library, check out Riverfront Park and Pinnacle Mountain State Park, and tour the Arkansas Arts Center. No wonder 202,000 people are living in Little Rock. If you’re moving to or living in Little Rock, know that the median home sale price is $215,000 and the average rent in Little Rock is about $1,048. 

    If you’re unsure about living in the heart of Little Rock, don’t worry, we’ve got towns for you to check out. At Redfin, we’ve collected 7 of the best Little Rock suburbs to consider moving to. And the best part is that they’re all less than 26 miles away from the city center. Let’s jump in.

    #1: Jacksonville

    Median home price: $130,798 
    Average sale price per square foot: $106 
    Distance from Little Rock: 16 miles
    Jacksonville, AR homes for sale 
    Jacksonville, AR apartments for rent 

    With a median home sale price of $130,798, Jacksonville is the first Little Rock suburb on our list. Just about a 16 mile drive away from Little Rock, you won’t miss out on what the city has to offer. If you’re considering moving to this area make sure to check out Reed’s Bridge Battlefield Heritage Park, camp at one of the campgrounds, and see the exhibits at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History.

    #2: East End

    Median home price: $149,950 
    Average sale price per square foot: $118 
    Distance from Little Rock: 18 miles
    East End, AR homes for sale 
    East End, AR apartments for rent 

    Taking the second spot on our list is East End. About an 18 mile drive away from downtown Little Rock, you can tour the Arkansas Arts Center in just a quick drive. Some popular things to do in East End include exploring the Lorance Creek Natural Area, a nature preserve just outside of town. When living in this suburb of 7,100 people, you can also spend the day checking out the charming downtown.

    Little Rock, Arkansas. at night with river

    #3: North Little Rock

    Median home price: $169,950 
    Average sale price per square foot: $107 
    Average rent for an apartment: $1,022 
    Distance from Little Rock: 2 miles
    North Little Rock, AR homes for sale 
    North Little Rock, AR apartments for rent 

    With a median home sale price of $169,950 and only a 2 mile drive away, North Little Rock is the third Little Rock suburb on our list. There’s plenty of picturesque and outdoorsy activities to take part in when living in North Little Rock. If you find yourself moving to this suburb, explore the Argenta Historic District, known for its historic architecture, art galleries, and local shops, see a show at Simmons Bank Arena, and take a stroll along the North Shore Riverwalk, a scenic trail along the Arkansas River with views of downtown Little Rock. 

    #4: Sherwood

    Median home price: $195,000 
    Average sale price per square foot: $125 
    Average rent for an apartment: $1,261 
    Distance from Little Rock: 11 miles
    Sherwood, AR homes for sale 
    Sherwood, AR apartments for rent 

    Only slightly more expensive than North Little Rock is the suburb of Sherwood. With roughly 32,700 residents in this Little Rock suburb, make sure to golf at one of the courses, and check out green spaces like Don Hughes Park.

    #5: Benton

    Median home price: $211,000 
    Average sale price per square foot: $141 
    Average rent for an apartment: $1,433 
    Distance from Little Rock: 26 miles
    Benton, AR homes for sale
    Benton, AR apartments for rent

    Drive 26 miles outside of Little Rock and you’ll find the suburb of Benton, another great area to add to your list. With 35,000 residents, moving to this suburb can keep you close enough to Little Rock, without paying the premium for a home there. Living in Benton, you can check out the downtown Benton area, spend time outside at Tyndall Park, and golf at Longhills Golf Course.

    pinnacle mountain state park near little rock

    #6: Maumelle

    Median home price: $265,000 
    Average sale price per square foot: $153 
    Average rent for an apartment: $1,442 
    Distance from Little Rock: 17 miles
    Maumelle, AR homes for sale 
    Maumelle, AR apartments for rent 

    Sixth on the list is another well-known Little Rock suburb, Maumelle, where the median home sale price is $265,000. Home to roughly 19,300 people, Maumelle is a great suburb to consider moving to. Whether you enjoy the views of Willastein Lake at Lake Willastein Park or grab a coffee at a local café, there are many activities to do and see in this suburb. 

    #7: Bryant

    Median home price: $298,000 
    Average sale price per square foot: $138 
    Average rent for an apartment: $1,567 
    Distance from Little Rock: 19 miles
    Bryant, AR homes for sale
    Bryant, AR apartments for rent 

    Rounding out our list of Little Rock suburbs is none other than Bryant. With a population of about 20,700, living in Bryant is a great alternative to Little Rock’s hustle and bustle. If you’re going to call this suburb home, plan to spend time at Mills Park and check out the local shops and restaurants.

    Methodology: Whether a suburb is a 26-mile drive from downtown Little Rock. Median home sale price data and average rent price from the Redfin Data Center during December 2023. Population data sourced from the United States Census Bureau.

    Alison Bentley

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  • AR Stock Price | Antero Resources Corp. Stock Quote (U.S.: NYSE) | MarketWatch

    AR Stock Price | Antero Resources Corp. Stock Quote (U.S.: NYSE) | MarketWatch

    Antero Resources Corp.

    Antero Resources Corp. engages in the development, production, exploration and acquisition of natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Marketing, and Equity Method Investment in Antero Midstream. The Exploration and Production segment deals with the development and production of natural gas, NGLs, and oil. The Marketing segment refers to marketing and utilization of excess firm transportation capacity. The Equity Method Investment in Antero Midstream segment represents midstream services. The company was founded by Paul M. Rady and Glen C. Warren, Jr. in June 2002 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.

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  • Hyperion Munitions Unveils Revolutionary PTC (Precise Trigger Control) – a Game-Changer in the AR Industry

    Hyperion Munitions Unveils Revolutionary PTC (Precise Trigger Control) – a Game-Changer in the AR Industry


    TAMPA, Fla., June 7, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Hyperion Munitions, a leading innovator in firearm accessories, proudly presents the PTC (Precise Trigger Control), a groundbreaking gun modification that is poised to revolutionize the entire AR industry. Invented by Gary Cananzey, the PTC represents a significant advancement in utility and has far-reaching implications from both a practical and political standpoint, comparable to the introduction of the machine gun.

    The PTC is a true crossover product, capable of garnering support from hunters, shooters, anti-hunters, and anti-shooters alike. By transforming even the most basic AR into an unparalleled firearm experience, it has the power to reshape public perception and dispel misconceptions surrounding our industry. The PTC embodies a spirit of reason and compromise, empowering individuals with a newfound appreciation for the value of responsible gun ownership.

    At the heart of the PTC lies the innovative Finger cam mechanism, designed to ensure repeatable automatic finger/trigger weld, thereby enabling shooters to achieve the highest levels of precision in competitive shooting and precision disciplines. Furthermore, the PTC eliminates the risk of accidental discharges during critical moments, such as magazine or gun changes, as well as high-stress defensive situations where inadvertent trigger contact could occur.

    The PTC’s ability to halt trigger over-travel effectively reduces the torque transmitted through the AR receiver, redirecting it into the shooter’s thumb, wrist, and forearm, resulting in a controlled shooting experience. Remarkably, the PTC enhances the performance of a stock mil spec trigger to rival or exceed that of expensive enhanced or drop-in triggers, all while maintaining the AR’s mil spec trigger pull between 5-7 lbs. This ensures that the PTC remains versatile for competition, hunting, and personal protection purposes, while also avoiding unnecessary legal scrutiny or constraints.

    One of the PTC’s most noteworthy features is its ability to transform a stock/production class AR into a customized firearm, without making any modifications to the trigger itself. This revolutionary technology grants shooters the benefits of a full-fledged custom trigger, providing an unparalleled shooting experience that rivals that of a 3 lb. custom trigger. Additionally, the PTC allows for seamless adjustment between single and two-stage triggers, catering to individual preferences in a matter of seconds.

    Hyperion Munitions’ commitment to enhancing every AR shooter’s performance and skill set is exemplified through the PTC’s ability to reduce overall trigger travel and reset to levels comparable to high-end drop-in triggers. Astonishingly, these extraordinary capabilities are made accessible to the average shooter at an affordable price point of under $50 per unit, ensuring that the PTC’s benefits are attainable to all AR enthusiasts.

    Beyond its remarkable shooting qualities, the PTC addresses a critical concern that has long plagued the firearms industry. In mere seconds, it transforms into a child, transportation, and storage safe-trigger lock, rendering an AR immediately and accidentally un-fireable. This groundbreaking feature provides a common-sense solution to prevent tragic incidents, such as unauthorized use by minors. By equipping ARs with the PTC, we can collectively work towards a safer future and help avert devastating accidents.

    Gary Cananzey, the visionary inventor behind the PTC, remarked, “If together we can stop just one tragedy, everything else is secondary.” Dane Thomas, owner of Hyperion Munitions shares this commitment to safety and urges individuals to consider the profound impact the PTC can have in safeguarding lives.

    The PTC garnered immense attention during its debut at the SHOT SHOW, where it captivated professional shooters, writers, and distributors alike. Despite initial skepticism, those who tested the PTC were left astounded, with some even expressing sheer delight. The arduous process of tooling, fixturing, and production is nearing completion, with Hyperion Munitions now embarking on the acquisition of additional machinery to meet the overwhelming demand, projected to reach millions of units.

    If you are interested in learning more about the PTC or wish to place an order for your clients, please contact your Hyperion Salesperson or email sales@hyperionmunitions.com for further information.

    About Hyperion Munitions:  Hyperion Munitions is a pioneering company dedicated to developing innovative firearm accessories that enhance performance, safety, and the overall shooting experience. Committed to excellence, Hyperion Munitions continually strives to redefine industry standards through cutting-edge advancements.

    For media inquiries, please contact:  Media Relations Hyperion Munitions Email:  malia@poweronmarketing.com

    Source: Hyperion Munitions

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  • Host India doesn’t want G20 to discuss further Russia sanctions – sources

    Host India doesn’t want G20 to discuss further Russia sanctions – sources

    BENGALURU, Feb 22 (Reuters) – India does not want the G20 to discuss additional sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine during New Delhi’s one-year presidency of the bloc, six senior Indian officials said on Wednesday, amid debate over how even to describe the conflict.

    On the sidelines of a G20 gathering in India, financial leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations will meet on Feb. 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion, to discuss measures against Russia, Japan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.

    The officials, who are directly involved in this week’s G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs, said the economic impact of the conflict would be discussed but India did not want to consider additional actions against Russia.

    “India is not keen to discuss or back any additional sanctions on Russia during the G20,” said one of the officials. “The existing sanctions on Russia have had a negative impact on the world.”

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    Another official said sanctions were not a G20 issue. “G20 is an economic forum for discussing growth issues.”

    Spokespeople for the Indian government and the finance and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    On Wednesday, the first day of meetings to draft the G20 communique, officials struggled to find an acceptable word to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict, delegates of at least seven countries present in the meetings said.

    India tried to form a consensus on the words by calling it a “crisis” or a “challenge” instead of a “war”, the officials said, but the discussions concluded without a decision.

    These discussions have been rolled over to Thursday when U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be part of the meetings.

    Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has previously said the war has disproportionately hit poorer countries by raising prices of fuel and food.

    India’s neighbours – Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh – have all sought loans from the International Monetary Fund in recent months to tide over economic troubles brought about by the pandemic and the war.

    U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Tuesday that Washington and its allies planned in coming days to impose new sanctions and export controls that would target Russia’s purchase of dual-use goods like refrigerators and microwaves to secure semiconductors needed for its military.

    The sanctions would also seek to do more to stem the trans-shipment of oil and other restricted goods through bordering countries.

    In addition, Adeyemo said officials from a coalition of more than 30 countries would warn companies, financial institutions and individuals still doing business with Russia that they faced sanctions.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not openly criticised Moscow for the invasion and instead called for dialogue and diplomacy to end the war. India has also sharply raised purchases of oil from Russia, its biggest supplier of defence hardware.

    Jaishankar told Reuters partner ANI this week that India’s relationship with Russia had been “extraordinarily steady and it has been steady through all the turbulence in global politics”.

    Additional reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Benedict’s death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future

    Benedict’s death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future

    VATICAN CITY, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Six months ago Pope Francis brushed off speculation he was about to resign due to health problems, but even if he had toyed with the idea, he faced one major obstacle: there was already another ex-pope in retirement.

    The death on Saturday of Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down instead of reigning for life, should make any decision to step down easier on Francis and the Church, which has struggled enough with having “two popes”, let alone three – two retired and one reigning.

    It could also prompt the current pontiff to review what happens to future popes who decide to shuffle away from office because of old age rather than holding on until they die.

    Francis is now 86, one year older than Benedict was when he retired. Despite needing a cane and a wheelchair, he shows no sign of slowing down. Trips are planned for Africa this month and Portugal in August.

    He has made it clear that he would not hesitate to step down someday if his mental or physical health impeded him from leading the 1.3 billion-member Church.

    In an interview with Reuters on July 2, he dismissed rumours of imminent resignation. “It never entered my mind,” he said, also denying rumours among diplomats that he had cancer.

    The previous month, the Catholic media world and some secular outlets were caught up in a frenzy of unsubstantiated reports and frivolous tweets speculating he would be out within a few months.

    But as he now approaches the 10th anniversary of his election in March, and in four years his life’s ninth decade, the chances of resignation will increase.

    Church law says a pope can resign but the decision must be without outside pressure, a precaution that harkens back to the centuries when European potentates influenced the papacy.

    NO LONGER UNTHINKABLE

    [1/2] Pope Francis leads the Mass to mark the World Day of Peace in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, January 1, 2023. Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS

    Now that longer life spans have made papal resignations no longer unthinkable, there have been repeated calls from Church leaders to regulate the role of former pontiffs, in part because of the confusion stemming wrought by two men wearing white living in the Vatican.

    Francis told a Spanish newspaper last month that he did not intend to define the juridical status of popes emeritus, although he had previously indicated privately that a Vatican department could script such rules.

    Australian Cardinal George Pell, a conservative who was close to Benedict, has written that while a retired pontiff could retain the title of “pope emeritus”, he should return to being a cardinal, and be known as “Cardinal (surname), Pope Emeritus”.

    Pell also said a former pontiff should not wear white, as Benedict did, telling Reuters in a 2020 interview that it was important for Catholics to be clear that “there is only one pope”.

    Academics and canon lawyers at Italy’s Bologna University who have studied the issue say the Church cannot risk even the appearance of having “two heads or two kings” and have proposed a set of rules.

    They say a former pope should not return to being a cardinal, as Pell proposes, but be called “Bishop Emeritus of Rome”.

    Francis told Reuters in July that is precisely what he would want to be called.

    In that case there might not be any need for new legislation he would then be subject to existing rules covering retired bishops.

    Existing rules say bishops emeritus should “avoid every attitude and relationship that could even hint at some kind of parallel authority to that of the diocesan bishop, with damaging consequences for the pastoral life and unity of the diocesan community”.

    Although he had retired, Benedict wrote, gave interviews and, unwittingly or not, became a lightning rod for opponents of Pope Francis, either for doctrinal reasons or because they were loath to relinquish the clerical privileges the new pope wanted to dismantle.

    Francis told Reuters that he would not stay in the Vatican or return to his native Argentina but live modestly in a home for retired priests in the Italian capital “because it’s my diocese”. He said he would want it to be near a large church so he could spend his final days hearing confessions.

    Reporting by Philip Pullella
    Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Argentina president rejects Supreme Court ruling, sparking backlash

    Argentina president rejects Supreme Court ruling, sparking backlash

    BUENOS AIRES, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Argentina’s leftist President Alberto Fernandez has sparked a battle with the country’s top court and something of a legal crisis after he said he would reject a ruling it made to give a larger proportion of state funds to the city of Buenos Aires.

    The South American country has a system to regulate how state funds are distribute between the country’s regions, including the capital city area, which is controlled by a conservative mayor and had been pushing for a larger slice.

    In a ruling on Wednesday the Supreme Court said the level should be raised from 1.4% of the total pool of funds to 2.95% after it was cut by government decree during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The city is the wealthiest and most populous area of the country.

    Fernandez, in a statement late on Thursday, said the ruling was unjustified and pledged to ignore it.

    “It is an unprecedented, incongruous, and impossible-to-enforce ruling,” he said, calling the decision politically motivated ahead of general elections next year and adding that it would hurt the other provinces.

    Fernandez, who has seen his popularity slide and whose ruling coalition was badly defeated in midterm congressional elections last year, said that the state would “challenge the members of the Supreme Court” and seek to have the ruling revoked.

    His remarks sparked off a backlash on both sides, some agreeing with the president that the ruling was unjustified and others saying the rejection of a Supreme Court decision set a dangerous precedent and undermined the justice system.

    “The president decided to break the constitutional order, completely violate the rule of law and attack democracy,” said Buenos Aires city mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, who is seen as a potential 2023 presidential candidate.

    Various industry groups criticized the move as dangerous to the rule of law, while a number of regional governors sided with the president.

    “This measure is, under current conditions, impossible to comply with,” said Buenos Aires province Governor Axel Kicillof.

    “There are already 18 governors who denounce the partisan decision of the Supreme Court to benefit the head of the city government against all the provinces.”

    Reporting by Adam Jourdan and Marta Lopez
    Editing by Frances Kerry

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Biden and Xi clash over Taiwan in Bali but Cold War fears cool

    Biden and Xi clash over Taiwan in Bali but Cold War fears cool

    • Biden, Xi meet for 3 hours before G20
    • Both leaders stress need to get ties back on track
    • Indonesia seeks partnerships on global economy at G20
    • Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to address G20 on Tuesday

    NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in blunt talks over Taiwan and North Korea on Monday in a three-hour meeting aimed at preventing strained U.S.-China ties from spilling into a new Cold War.

    Amid simmering differences on human rights, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and support of domestic industry, the two leaders pledged more frequent communications. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Beijing for follow-up talks.

    “We’re going to compete vigorously. But I’m not looking for conflict, I’m looking to manage this competition responsibly,” Biden said after his talks with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.

    Beijing has long said it would bring the self-governed island of Taiwan, which it views as an inalienable part of China, under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. It has frequently accused the United States in recent years of encouraging Taiwan independence.

    In a statement after their meeting, Xi called Taiwan the “first red line” that must not be crossed in U.S.-China relations, Chinese state media said.

    Biden said he sought to assure Xi that U.S. policy on Taiwan, which has for decades been to support both Beijing’s ‘One China’ stance and Taiwan’s military, had not changed.

    He said there was no need for a new Cold War, and that he did not think China was planning a hot one.

    “I do not think there’s any imminent attempt on the part of China to invade Taiwan,” he told reporters.

    On North Korea, Biden said it was hard to know whether Beijing had any influence over Pyongyang weapons testing. “Well, first of all, it’s difficult to say that I am certain that China can control North Korea,” he said.

    Biden said he told Xi the United States would do what it needs to do to defend itself and allies South Korea and Japan, which could be “maybe more up in the face of China” though not directed against it.

    “We would have to take certain actions that would be more defensive on our behalf… to send a clear message to North Korea. We are going to defend our allies, as well as American soil and American capacity,” he said.

    Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said before the meeting that Biden would warn Xi about the possibility of enhanced U.S. military presence in the region, something Beijing is not keen to see.

    Beijing had halted a series of formal dialogue channels with Washington, including on climate change and military-to-military talks, after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi upset China by visiting Taiwan in August.

    Biden and Xi agreed to allow senior officials to renew communication on climate, debt relief and other issues, the White House said after they spoke.

    Xi’s statement after the talks included pointed warnings on Taiwan.

    [1/7] U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference following his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, ahead of the G20 leaders’ summit, in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    “The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

    “Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese and China’s internal affair,” Xi said, according to state media.

    Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over it.

    Taiwan’s presidential office said it welcomed Biden’s reaffirmation of U.S. policy. “This also once again fully demonstrates that the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is the common expectation of the international community,” it said.

    SMILES AND HANDSHAKES

    Before their talks, the two leaders smiled and shook hands warmly in front of their national flags at a hotel on Indonesia’s Bali island, a day before a Group of 20 (G20) summit set to be fraught with tension over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    “It’s just great to see you,” Biden told Xi, as he put an arm around him before their meeting.

    Biden brought up a number of difficult topics with Xi, according to the White House, including raising U.S. objections to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan,” Beijing’s “non-market economic practices,” and practices in “Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and human rights more broadly.”

    Neither leader wore a mask to ward off COVID-19, although members of their delegations did.

    U.S.-China relations have been roiled in recent years by growing tensions over issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea, trade practices, and U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology.

    But U.S. officials said there have been quiet efforts by both Beijing and Washington over the past two months to repair relations.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters in Bali earlier that the meeting aimed to stabilise the relationship and to create a “more certain atmosphere” for U.S. businesses.

    She said Biden had been clear with China about national security concerns regarding restrictions on sensitive U.S. technologies and had raised concern about the reliability of Chinese supply chains for commodities.

    G20 summit host President Joko Widodo of Indonesia said he hoped the gathering on Tuesday could “deliver concrete partnerships that can help the world in its economic recovery”.

    However, one of the main topics at the G20 will be Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    Xi and Putin have grown close in recent years, bound by their shared distrust of the West, and reaffirmed their partnership just days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But China has been careful not to provide any direct material support that could trigger Western sanctions against it.

    Reporting by Nandita Bose, Stanley Widianto, Fransiska Nangoy, Leika Kihara, David Lawder and Simon Lewis in Nusa Dua, and Yew Lun Tian and Ryan Woo in Beijing; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Kay Johnson and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Grant McCool, Heather Timmons and Rosalba O’Brien

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • One-of-a-Kind Party Game, With Augmented Reality Option, is Now Live on Kickstarter

    One-of-a-Kind Party Game, With Augmented Reality Option, is Now Live on Kickstarter

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Mar 2, 2021


    TAMPA, Fla., March 2, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Llamasters, the first-of-its-kind party game that utilizes augmented reality, has been launched today on Kickstarter. Llamasters is a party game for between two to five players that sets opponents on a mission to become the one and only Llama Master. 

    The Kickstarter campaign features several investment packages to appeal to both early birds and high donors, including a personalized llama card; there is also an investment package limited to a maximum of 24 people.

    While party games themselves may be nothing new, Llamasters features a unique augmented reality option to take gameplay to new levels. Players have an option to start the game in two different modes and the objective for players is to take care of their llama king or queen, using strategy to outwit their opponents, to become the ultimate Llama Master. 

    The game has been devised by George Thomas and Eli Fodor, both of whom were fans of both on and offline gaming. Lockdown made them both realize how much they missed playing board games together with their friends, and so Llamasters was born. The team members both appreciate the adage that “laughter is the best medicine” and so a game that was fun and exciting for all ages was imperative to them. Llamasters delivers just that and utilizes augmented reality to connect friends and families together. Shortly after Maja Kazazic and Gabriel Kiss saw the fun and potential of the game, they quickly joined the team.  

    The Llamasters Kickstarter campaign hopes to raise revenues of $10,000USD to develop more features in the app and to manufacture the first 5,000 pieces. The campaign runs from March 1-31. Future plans for Llamasters include adding new features and animations to the app and reaching out to a global gaming audience.

    George Thomas, Llamasters, said, “Everyone loves physical party games and most people are equally happy gaming on their phones. With Llamasters, we wanted to come up with a unique game that would combine the two. What makes Llamasters that much more special is how players can pick up the physical game on their phones, with no interruption to gameplay, thanks to its AR technology. We want to provide our backers and players with a fun gaming experience that can be enjoyed online, offline or a combination of the two using a play format that brings laughter to all. Who doesn’t love a llama?”

    To contribute to the Llamasters Kickstarter campaign, please visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/llamasters/llamasters-the-card-game-with-augmented-reality.

    Production status: 100 full decks of Llamasters are already manufactured and have been focus-group tested and used to make further gaming refinements. The Augmented Reality framework for iOS and Android has also been built and fully tested. The Kickstarter campaign is to manufacture more Llamasters decks and further develop the games’ AR technology. 

    Backer rewards: A $45 ($39 for early bird investors) investment gives Kickstarter patrons their own full deck of 85 Llamasters cards, ready to play. 

    Backers expected to receive their rewards in: June 2021

    Time per game: 10-30 mins

    Age: 14+ 

    About Llamasters: Created by four friends whose intent is to bring some joy and shared laughter to the world, Llamasters is a multiplayer party game that takes users on a mission to become the ultimate Llama Master. The game utilizes Augmented Reality in a unique playing format. The game is suitable for players aged 14 and above.  

    For more information, please contact: press@llamasters.com

    Website: https://llamasters.com/

    Images, Videos & Branding: https://llamasters.com/media/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/Llamasters1/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llamasters/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/llamasters/

    Source: Llamasters

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