Ostendo is combining its display technology with Veea’s smart edge connectivity business to create a unique standalone company with plans to create a cloud-based set of AR glasses.
Ostendo has been kicking around its technology for the last decade and has been in fundraising mode for most of those years. Depending on the source, Peter Thiel invested anywhere between $70-90 million in the company, it has received about $38 million in government grants, and may have raised anywhere from $190-240 million in private funding. By contrast, Veea doesn’t seem to have much funding, a pretty interesting edge computing software platform, and anywhere between $3-5 million in revenues.
Both companies have interesting technologies and there is something to be said for an untethered AR glasses solution that works off existing networks which, in theory, they can now look to provide having both a reference design for the glasses and a software solution for wireless connectivity with reduced lag and latency. On the other hand, like most bleeding edge display technology, AR, and edge computing, we may be 2-3 years away from seeing viable commercial applications. At least not in the consumer space, although there may be applications in the enterprise or military that are willing to throw money at the problem. Doesn’t change the fact that the biggest problem for any AR, or VR, headset is, unless it is unbelievably expensive and cumbersome, it has to make compromises to save on power consumption, local processing power, weight, comfort, and many other factors, all of which diminish the promise or usability of the device in some way. Nevertheless, its worth keeping an eye on companies like these two, that fly under the radar, not for lack of resources or technology, but for some reason that escapes us.
