No matter how exciting that TV show may be, most of us can’t keep one hand (and one eye) off of our precious portable devices. A lot of TV viewers love to incorporate a second screen into their entertainment mix, whether the device of choice is a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop
SeeSpace wants you to ditch that extra device, without having to sacrifice any of the additional content. Earlier this year, the company debuted InAiR, a multi-dimensional viewer interface for augmented TV.
The idea is that InAiR can display the content you’d typically get from an additional screen right on your existing TV—in layers. This is done via the InAiR Smart HDMI Adapter, a little dongle that’s designed to work with any existing TV, including HD, 3D and even Ultra HD 4K. Plug it into your TV or set-top box and you can start enjoying InAiR Augmented TV right away. Nothing else is needed!
While InAiR does work with 2D TVs, a 3D-capable set can really make that info “pop.”† SeeSpace’s patented InAiR Engine identifies relevant web content based on what the viewer is watching. Then, it delivers that content in real-time.
“Viewers don’t want to watch TV in isolation any more. They want context: graphics, information and social engagement. Today, there is no easy way to display this content without the second screen,” said Nam Do, co-founder and CEO of SeeSpace. “We had to crack both the design and the technical challenges to deliver InAiR, a completely new kind of viewer interface. InAiR makes use of the entire viewing space in front of the TV, and creates a new medium of combined media like nothing people have interacted with before.”
If you still can’t let go of that portable, you can incorporate it into the InAiR experience, as a track pad-type controller. SeeSpace offers a free InAiR app for iOS and Android devices. The app doesn’t have menus or buttons. Instead, it allows users to swipe and scroll through content overlaid on the screen. InAiR also supports gesture control via Kinect and Leap Motion, “giving viewers a true Minority Report experience.”
SeeSpace is currently taking pre-orders for InAiR through Kickstarter. The pre-release price is $99 for the standard InAiR and $149 for the 3D version (sorry, the $119 option is already gone). SeeSpace’s Kickstarter campaign ends on Saturday, March 8, 2014. The company then plans to start shipping products sometime in September.
This article was originally published by our content partner EH
