Sol Reader is a VR headset exclusively for reading books
Sol Reader is a VR headset exclusively for reading books
We’ve been waxing lyrical (and critical) about Apple’s Vision Pro here at TechCrunch this week – but, of course, there are other things happening in the world of wearable tech, as well. Sol Reader raised a $5 million seed round with a headset that doesn’t promise to do more. In fact, it is trying to...
This really seems like a solution in search of a problem.
That’s honestly how most of the Apple Vision Pro announcement looked to me
Honestly, I felt like if there was one company that could make it work, it’d be Apple. The hardware looks impressive and they’ve got enough ecosystem benefits to at least get some applications going beyond gaming, video, and porn.
Plus, Apple products have such a critical mass that other developers are bound to jump on board. This headset sounds like a niche product that’ll fail because of it being far too niche. If they could’ve launched an app for an already successful headset instead, I might’ve been more optimistic.
Seems like it'd be kind of useful for people who like to have their cat or dog curled up into their lap while they read. Now both of your hands are totally free to stroke/scratch your pet!
Yes but also I want it for some reason
I wish people used the term HMD (head mounted display) for stuff like this. It's not VR, there is no motion tracker or interaction with a "reality" that is "virtual". It's just really small screens really close to your eyes.
Nobody's clicking that article.
I don't think it's a bad idea in principle, but what got me suspicious is that I couldn't find the resolution anywhere on their page. From the only picture of the screen I found, it looks painfully low res:
The article says 256x256. So yeah, painfully low res
Also, a big selling point of e-ink is that it can be lit externally and match the color tone and brightness of your outside environment. If you're blocking out the outside environment, what's the point of e-ink?
Interesting idea, but... imagine sitting at a coffee shop enjoying a book with your fancy new reading glasses and someone roofies your coffee or steals all your stuff because you blocked all distractions.
yeah the only situation I can see using this is something like on a plane with a family member or friend who would keep an eye on you, which seems pretty niche imo. maybe at home if youve got a loud family? idk I just don't see a use case for this
The product has a diopter adjustment built in, so glasses- and contacts-wearers can use the glasses without wearing additional vision correction (up to a point – the company doesn’t specify the exact adjustment range).
Can companies at freaking least do me the favour and reject visually impaired me openly instead of implicitly?
Couldn't agree more, and what about asymmetric prescriptions? This has been part of why I've never really been able to get into VR in general, the accessibility of it just isn't there.
Whats the point of this? I don't think "stopping distractions" is a good enough reason to get what's essentially kindle glasses. I think you would be better off getting AR glasses and using a kindle app or something. Most of the distractions I can think of can be solved by either changing your environment or your own behavior
This doesn't appeal to me at all. I need some artifact in my hand that I'm interacting with. A disembodied page floating in my field of view doesn't seem pleasant. I'd also worry about eye strain. The Quest 2 can really wear you out after a few hours, I wonder if this would be similar?
Thankfully it's e-ink so the eye strain should be a lot less than something with an LCD screen. As for the artifact, I definitely agree with you.
I'd be worried about face fatigue in general. Those headsets can really hurt if you don't have the perfect shaped nose for them
not sure this is a better solution for being able to focus on reading than just like putting your phone in another room for an hour for free
Well, you'd also have to strap your ereader to your face to get the...convenience(?) of hands free reading. I'm not sure what else you'll be doing with your hands since you won't be able to see anything but your book, though.
I put my name on the waiting list. Sure it's gimmicky, but airplane travel is the perfect place for this. I already spent the entire flight reading, and this would let me really zone out.
I feel like I'd rather just listen to an audiobook.
Audiobooks are great, but a lot slower.
I like the idea, but $350 is way overpriced in my opinion.
ebooks and e comics in VR is an awesome concept really. I like to read ebooks on my tv cast from my ipad because it's really comfortable to not have to hold anything or really use your hands until you want to swipe to the next page. I think manga and comic lovers especially will benefit from something like this. Also it's really nerdy but it would be kinda dope to hear the page turning as though you have a physical book in front of you.
Plus with the eye tracking stuff you wouldn't even have to use your hands to turn the page. it could all be done for you. It seems contradictory but ebooks/comics and VR have some amazing potential together
I think it's ePaper so I don't know about color, but I'd like something to use in the dark without having a noticeable light bothering my wife.
I like the idea, I'm curious about how well it will be implemented.
256x256.
No thanks. There's a reason you can't reasonably read on most of the headsets out there and it's because 2k by 2k isn't crisp enough for acceptable text resolution.
i could see myself using it for digital comics/manga and books. holding up a tablet can be tiring, having a HMD sounds nicer.
This would give me a massive headache.
For me the huge advantage of this is being able to read without holding something. I often like to read lying on the beach for example, and hate having to hold my Kindle over my head, this would potentially solve that. Not really worth $350, but still, I like the concept.
Lying on your side, a device like this still gets in your way. It's a really weird use case.