Bose has unveiled its own AR system, called Bose AR. Although it features a pair of smart glasses, the system places most focus on the audio, each arm features small integrated speakers to provide private audio to the wearer.
The smart glasses are joined by the Bose AR SDK, which will be available to developers starting this summer.
On the official blog the audio manufacturer outlines its plans for the system:
Unlike visual AR, which adds an extra layer of things you can see, Bose AR adds an extra layer of things you can hear.
Using only a Bose AR-equipped wearable, a smart phone and an app enabled with Bose AR, the new platform lets you hear what you see, making everything more valuable, more emotional and more meaningful. All you provide are simple head movements, voice commands and taps on your wearable; the Bose AR platform does the rest. You stay involved in the world around you and your phone stays tucked away.
Bose AR is a platform, which means others can develop both apps — for music, travel and education, among others — as well as wearables — including headphones, glasses and helmets. Bose will be building Bose AR into upcoming audio products and a number of partners will soon publicly announce their intent to begin working on the Bose AR platform as well.
And, to help inspire the startup community to begin work on the new platform, Bose has set aside $50 million to invest in companies that create apps, services and related technologies for the Bose AR platform.