Nimo: A Small But Important Step Toward Something More
I recently had a chance to interview Rohildev Nattukallingal about Nimo, an Android computer built into a chunky pair of glasses with an integrated virtual display — 6 of them, in fact.
Wired magazine did a piece about them back in March, which prompted me to reach out to Rohil in the first place. They do a decent job of covering what it is (so you should read about it over there), but I wanted to know more about the evolution of the technology, various design and engineering trade-offs, and how it was going to be positioned in the evolving XR market. Based on that conversation, I think it’s also important to review what the Nimo is not, and level expectations accordingly.
Nimo is not virtual reality. In fact, to the degree that it’s XR (eXtended Reality), it’s only by virtue of the semi-transparent display in the glasses which mixes your physical surroundings with a 720p video overlay (which also creates some challenges around clarity, contrast, and readability they’re working very hard to address). That overlay is additive, making the combined area brighter, similar to the technology in Microsoft’s HoloLens. It’s also non-stereoscopic in the current generation, meaning the image presented to both eyes is identical and perceived as flat rather than with varying depth or multiple planes. As a result the device has comfortable eye relief at an infinite perceptual focus and a wider field of view, as well as trading the computational overhead of 3-dimensional interfaces for longer battery life and a smaller form-factor.
There are no cameras on board, no hand tracking, or other tethered controls: input is by keyboard and mouse over BlueTooth, using your phone as a touch-pad, or tapping some buttons on the glasses’ stem. Navigation amongst the six virtual screens is accomplished by moving your head to look around, utilizing 3DoF tracking similar to most cell phones accelerometers or gyroscopic sensors. It does not work as a primary display for other devices, although there are plans to make it work with laptops or other portable computing to act as an extension so you don’t have to give up your multi-monitor workstation when leaving the desk.
It’s a small portable Android computer, running standard 2D Android applications (of which there are thousands readily available) for quick computing on the go: more real estate than a phone, but less power than a laptop, occupying a productivity space similar to netbooks or tablets. The notable development is all about the form factor, and the convenience and privacy it affords. Coupled with something like the Tap (or a Twiddler, for hardcore users), Nimo’s aim is to enable convenient casual computing at a ubiquitous level.
It’s a niche development but an important one: moving existing productivity tasks into a virtualized interface, and further normalizing wearable computing. For people with the luxury to select “just the right amount” of computer power and interface richness for a given situation, this could be quite useful — I love the idea of keeping another copy of my second brain handy with a larger viewable area than afforded by a phone — or a journal, word processor, or collaborative canvas, etc. Not all XR requires 3D to augment human intelligence; ready access to the many cognitive force-multipliers we’ve already created is superpower enough.
One last interesting development to note, the Kickstarter for the new VITURE One glasses recently opened as well (and immediately megafunded), which looks to have a more mature technology and production pipeline but also a very different intent: 3D displays, but no head tracking of any kind (not even 3DoF), so there’s no looking around. The glasses require tethering to additional devices to be useful — though one of those is also readily available, with an entertainment focus, and comes with the bonus of shifting weight out of the device for longer wearable comfort. The products fill similar but ultimately distinct use cases, and most importantly they both represent evolutions in those respective fields toward a more omnipresent access to the otherwise invisible informational world embedded in our lives.
