Wearality was a company that aimed to revolutionize virtual reality (VR) with their innovative lens technology. They gained attention with their Kickstarter campaign for the Wearality Sky, a smartphone-based VR viewer that promised an exceptionally wide field of view.
Wearality Sky
Here’s a summary of what happened to Wearality:
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Initial Hype and Kickstarter Success: Wearality generated significant excitement with their claims of a 150-degree field of view, much wider than the typical VR headsets at the time. Their Kickstarter campaign was successfully funded, raising over $117,000.
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Focus on Lens Technology: Wearality’s core technology was their patented double Fresnel lens, which they claimed offered superior clarity, sharpness, and a wider field of view compared to traditional VR lenses. They aimed to become a supplier of these lenses to other VR headset manufacturers.
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Wearality Sky Viewer: Wearality did release the Wearality Sky viewer, which was designed to work with smartphones. However, it didn’t achieve widespread adoption.
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Shift in Strategy: Wearality seemed to shift its focus from selling their own VR viewer to becoming a lens supplier for other VR headset manufacturers. They showcased even wider field-of-view lenses (180 degrees) and emphasized their potential for creating smaller and lighter VR headsets.
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Lack of Major Partnerships: Despite the promising technology, Wearality didn’t announce any major partnerships with established VR headset manufacturers.
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Limited Updates: Wearality’s website and social media presence became less active over time, and there haven’t been any significant product announcements or updates in recent years.
Possible Reasons for Lack of Widespread Success:
- Competition: The VR market became increasingly competitive with the emergence of major players like Oculus, HTC, and Sony. Wearality might have struggled to compete with these established companies.
- Technological Challenges: Developing and manufacturing high-quality lenses for VR headsets is a complex process. Wearality might have faced challenges in scaling up production and meeting the demands of the market.
- Lack of Marketing and Distribution: Wearality might have lacked the resources or expertise to effectively market and distribute their products.
- Changing Market Dynamics: The VR market has evolved rapidly, with new technologies and form factors emerging. Wearality’s lens technology might not have aligned with the direction the market was heading.
Current Status:
It’s unclear what Wearality is currently doing. Their website is still active, but there haven’t been any recent updates. It’s possible that they are still working on their lens technology or exploring other applications for their expertise. However, they haven’t made any public announcements about their plans.
While Wearality’s lens technology showed promise, they haven’t achieved the widespread success that some might have expected. The reasons for this are likely a combination of factors, including market competition, technological challenges, and the evolving nature of the VR industry.
RoadToVR Articles
- Wearality’s 150 Degree Lenses Are a Balancing Act, Not a Breakthrough - Mar 2015
- New Fresnel Lens From Wearality is Thinner Than a Quarter - Aug 2017