TEL AVIV (January 20, 2015) — The experience of riding down the mountain will change dramatically in 2015. RideOn, a startup based in Tel Aviv, recently unveiled their prototype of ski goggles of the same name that incorporate augmented reality (AR) features for the first time ever. RideOn’s seethrough display (think Google Glass) projects AR layers and features as if they’re floating in the distance in front of you.

“We wanted to find our locations on a ski resort map instantly, or to quickly contact each other when we’d get separated. We wanted to do these things without having to take our gloves off, or use our phones,” said Alon Getz, CEO and cofounder, on why they created the goggles.

Software engineer and cofounder Ori Kotek noted that headsup display goggles like Oakley Airwave and Recon’s Snow2 sort of achieved this, but with bulky external devices like wristpieces, and a display located in the user’s peripheral vision. “What distinguishes RideOn is our delivery of a true AR experience, derived from a seethrough display that projects data onto the center of your field of view, not on the side,” he explained.

Furthermore, users interact with these data and features handsfree just by staring at friends, ski lodges, and ski lifts in the distance, or by looking up at floating buttons fixed to the sky. Getz and Kotek invented this style of UI to keep riders’ hands warm in their gloves. RideOn’s features let you:

Interact
● See your friends’ locations around you
● Communicate using audio and video
● Post videos and stats online for your friends back home
● Annoy your friends: Throw a virtual snowball

Navigate
● See your location on a map
● Find ski lodges, restaurants, and bars highlighted seamlessly in your field of vision
● Find ski lift locations & check queue wait times, and whether lifts are open

Play
● Compete against yourself and your friends in various games and improve your time and accuracy

The goggles also feature an HD camera for capturing video and for videochatting with friends back home. RideOn uses this camera in combination with inertial sensors and GPS to measure user location and head orientation.

Rideon's first working prototype

Getz and Kotek expect a sizeable demand for their goggles, which target a worldwide ski market of around 115 million people in 80 countries. They hope RideOn goggles will revolutionize the ski experience, but that all this depends on the success of their Indiegogo campaign. “We hope you’ll check us out and support us!”

Pilot HUD

Pilot HUD

Pilot HUD

Pilot HUD

About RideOn
RideOn are the world’s first true AR goggles for skiers and snowboarders who want an enhanced, visually interactive experience on the mountain. Conceived in 2012, founders Ori Kotek and Alon Getz — each with 13 years’ experience in jetpilot visual technology and inertial systems — created RideOn to let skiers communicate with friends, navigate the mountain’s runs and lodges, and play games, all overlaid seamlessly in the center of their vision.

RideOn’s Indiegogo Campaign has launched January 20, 2015 at noon EST. http://igg.me/at/rideon.