AR/VR are both weak. This MR peripheral can turn your phone into HoloLens

Wouldn't it be a bit magical to see the world in front of you being destroyed by a dragon, or to see a giant arrow pointing to the conference room where you're meeting? Such mixed reality features are already available on smartphones, but the technology still has a long way to go before it can reach its potential. Just look at Lenovo's early efforts with the disappointing Tango Phone.

Fortunately, many startups have not given up on their mixed reality dreams. Including Occipital, a startup based in San Francisco, which has found some unique solutions to the problem of blurring the line between the virtual and real worlds. That's why its mixed reality peripheral, Bridge, has caused a sensation in the outside world.

Currently, this peripheral only supports iPhone. In recent years, most mobile VR applications and devices are developed around Android devices. Although there are some VR applications and games on iOS, due to historical reasons, VR developers are not as enthusiastic about Apple's hardware as they are about Android. For Occipital, they smell a hint of opportunity. Bridge will be officially launched in March next year, but developers and early adopters can play the trial version next week.

Three years ago, the company first launched a set of sensors that can perform depth scanning of real-world space, bringing augmented reality to the iPad. At that time, mixed reality did not seem so easy to achieve, but it cannot be denied that the technology of measuring the real world is very good and powerful. According to Adam Rodnitzky, marketing director of Occipital, this technology has been used to achieve real estate appraisal, home decoration and even medical treatment. Today, three years later, it is finally being put to good use.

In today's world where VR boxes are sold with mobile phones, Occipital decided to do something different. They made a device with five components, including the box, a wide-angle lens, and a sturdy bracket. This routine of using the previous device seems a bit lazy, but the final result is surprisingly good.

We recently had the chance to play with a demo version of the Bridge, and I was impressed by its performance and the excellent accuracy that I expected. You can put an iPhone 6 in it (or 6s or later, but not SE), and the Bridge's magnetic clasp will keep the case closed. Then you wear it like a crown, and there is a wheel on the back to adjust the tightness. It sounds a bit like a torture device, but it is actually quite comfortable.

One problem is that the Bridge's lenses are closer to the eyes than most VR boxes, which is not good news for users who wear glasses, but Podnitzky promised that this will be changed in a future consumer version.

In fact, the experience of using Bridge is quite good. Occipital did not configure an entry program for Bridge's debut, only a small demo Demo, which has a cute little robot named Bridget. Using a Bluetooth remote control like a Wii controller, I played for about ten minutes. In it, I kept throwing a ball and then watched Bridget go around the coffee table in the office to pick it up. Before the demonstration began, Bridge performed a deep scan for a few seconds to help it recognize the external environment of the office. After that, it could identify all the corners of the office with great accuracy.

To make a perhaps unfair comparison, Bridge is currently designed to only capture a 10-foot-by-10-foot square area in front of you. Tango, on the other hand, can recognize an entire room at once. Bridge is more limited, but at the same time, its accuracy is so amazing in a small range of recognition.

After throwing the ball for a while, the little robot Bridget will get tired and need to be charged. At this time, you need to pick up her charging cable and connect it to a light-emitting body like a small desk lamp. This reminds me of the days of playing Tango - interacting with the dinosaurs in front of me and pushing the dominoes on the ground. These are very basic examples of mixed reality, but what I didn't expect is that all of this is more brilliant when combined with VR headsets.

Bridge is capable of more than just mixed reality. In another demo, I was instructed to place a portal on the ground in front of me. When I stepped through it, I found myself transported to a space station with a giant planet in front of me. A red grid covered obstacles in the real world, allowing me to bypass a coffee table as I explored the station. After another stumbling moment, the demo ended.

Fortunately, Occipital has received a lot of support from developers, even though they may be competitors. Bridge is not perfect, for example, the iPhone's non-AMOLED display and the huge squeeze on the battery, but even the unfinished demos are enough to make me throw the Phab 2 Pro into a drawer to collect dust. Of course, how far this device can go depends on whether consumers buy it, so let's wait and see. (Compiled by Yang Sai)

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.