polaris~

An audiovisual augmented reality experience built on open-source hardware and software.

Inspiration & Rationale

(May - July 2020)

LeapMotion video from 2018 showcasing through-combiner footage of the robust hand tracking in North Star

During the development of the pilot study for my PhD: the area~ system, I came across the open-source Project North Star AR headset. It had a very clear set of advantages detailed below:

Visual Display

  • 2K resolution per-eye OLED displays

Tracking

Software

Others

  • Community of makers (> 2000 people)
  • Open-sourced design - ability to expand to other sensory modalities
  • .stl files for 3D Printing
  • Cheap in comparison to Microsoft HL2 and Magic Leap ML-1

I therefore thought it would be a good platform to design my further studies with. Either in conjunction with wireless bone conduction headphones, or via desigining, 3D printing, and implementing a bone conduction solution for the headset.

Promotional futuristic image of a woman wearing the original North Star headset
North Star headset showing the Windows logo on its displays
Early prototype image of the original North Star headset being worn by a dummy