Unistellar Envision Binoculars: AR-Powered Viewing and Navigation

French company Unistellar, renowned for its smart telescopes, has introduced the Envision binoculars, which blend advanced technology with traditional binocular functionality. These innovative binoculars promise to identify and label over a million landmarks and more than 200,000 celestial objects using augmented reality (AR), a feature reminiscent of Swarovski's Optik AX Visio binoculars.

Unistellar's Envision binoculars boast 50mm Nikon lenses and integrate an AR projection system to overlay contextual information in real time. The technology, which helped the company automate telescope functions, is now compacted into these advanced binoculars. Users can enjoy a smarter viewing experience, aided by the connection to a smartphone via Bluetooth. This connection utilizes the phone’s GPS and sensors to determine the user's location and feed data from a comprehensive online database of cartographic items.

For those venturing into remote areas, offline maps and data can be pre-downloaded, ensuring functionality without internet connectivity. The Envision binoculars are designed to function as regular binoculars when the battery, which supports five hours of use or 1,000 engagements per charge, is depleted.

One standout feature is the Shareable Target Lock. Users can lock onto a target and then pass the binoculars to someone else, who will be guided to the same target via directional indicators.

Unistellar aims to fund the Envision binoculars through a Kickstarter campaign, with early bird preorders priced at $699, significantly lower than the anticipated $1,199 retail price. This is a budget-friendly option compared to the $4,799 Swarovski smart binoculars. However, potential backers should be cautious, as the first prototypes are not expected until January 2025, with delivery slated for late 2025. Despite Unistellar's track record of successful product deliveries, it's wise to monitor the project's progress before committing.

The Envision binoculars, if successfully funded and developed, could revolutionize how we experience and understand the world around us, from terrestrial landmarks to the wonders of the night sky.