Distance emerges from stealth with $2.7M in funding

June 13, 2024 – Distance Technologies Oy, a developer of glasses-free prolonged actuality (XR) know-how designed for the automotive, aerospace, and protection markets has immediately emerged from stealth. As a part of its launch announcement, Distance additionally acknowledged that it has raised a complete of USD $2.7 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed spherical led by FOV Ventures and Maki.vc, with additional investments from Enterprise Finland and David Helgason’s Foobar.vc.

“Distance’s execution pace is already extraordinary and we’ve 100% confidence of their means to revolutionize the XR trade with their groundbreaking know-how. It’s not like something we’ve seen earlier than, and we’re excited to help their journey to new heights,” stated Ilkka Kivimäki, Founding Accomplice at Maki.vc

What does Distance’s know-how do?

Already displaying a ‘sneak peek’ of its first business product, the Distance prototype transforms just about any clear floor right into a window for XR experiences. Utilizing a computer-generated 3D mild subject that seamlessly mixes with the true world, Distance states that its know-how provides “flawless per-pixel depth masking your entire subject of view for max immersion.” What’s extra, the corporate’s answer is totally non-reliant on something worn on a consumer’s face or physique.

Constructing on the pioneering Varjo promise of “human-eye decision” XR content material, with Distance, customers are capable of merely look via a window, or every other clear floor (e.g. in a automotive or on a airplane) and expertise blended actuality, due to Distance’s per-pixel optical depth functionality. The corporate’s next-generation 3D visible constancy and efficiency is all achieved without having a headset, telephone, pin, glasses or different cellular system, and as a substitute solely requires a consumer’s personal eyes.

What industries is Distance focusing on?

Designed for integration into automotive and superior aeronautics methods, Distance’s know-how is at the moment underneath analysis by a number of main automotive OEMs for potential use in each windshields and home windows, in accordance with the corporate. On the protection and aviation facet, 

Distance added that corporations can now discover the adoption of its know-how into business and navy cockpits and autos, with the corporate anticipating that future generations of its design are anticipated to open extra market alternatives.

Is glasses-free XR a “Holy Grail” second for the trade?

Distance acknowledged that its headset and glasses-free XR know-how, which has lengthy been thought of a “Holy Grail” second for the XR trade, implies that any view inside a window, windshield or cockpit can now be enhanced with ANY content material, information or alphanumeric data. This XR content material can embrace a variety of situational analyses and data distinctive and particular to that location or geospatial coordinates – all showing utterly pure and “in situ,” in accordance with the corporate.

Distance added that its know-how can also be designed to tie-in to a variety of AI language fashions and serps as a method to provide true “Contextual AI.”

“There are only a few moments in your life the place you may have the chance to ‘bottle lightning.’ I had the privilege of doing it as soon as as co-founder of Varjo with the primary human-eye decision XR headset and now I’m past excited to have the chance to do it once more with the Distance platform – and maybe in an much more transformative manner,” stated Urho Konttori, CEO and co-founder of Distance Applied sciences.

“I’ve each perception that we’re making a nexus level the place true blended actuality with out headsets or glasses turns into ubiquitous and that visible AI has the potential to achieve everybody on this planet.”

The place are you able to expertise Distance?

Distance might be demonstrating its know-how in non-public showings to a choose group of analysts, journalists and influencers at Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2024 in Lengthy Seashore subsequent week. Extra particulars on availability and clients for the Distance glasses-free XR answer might be launched later in 2024.

For extra data on Distance and its headset-free XR know-how, please go to the corporate’s website.

Picture credit score: Distance