Meta (augmented reality company) explained

Meta
Type:Private
Fate:Insolvency
Successor:Meta View (now Campfire)
Founder:Meron Gribetz, CEO
Key People:John Werner
Products:Augmented reality products

Meta was a company that designed augmented reality products. The company was founded by Meron Gribetz in 2012,[1] [2] based on the "Extramissive spatial imaging digital eye glass" technology invented by Gribetz and Mann[3] originally filed with the US Patent and Trademark office Jan 3, 2013.[4]

The company furloughed two-thirds of its approximately 100 employees in September 2018.[5] In 2019, the company declared itself insolvent after its primary lender foreclosed and sold all of the company's assets.[6]

Products

The company's products included the Meta 1 and Meta 2 Developer Kits, headsets with which users could view and manipulate computer-generated images using optical see-through displays.[7]

History

Meta was founded by Meron Gribetz while he was a student at Columbia University.[8] [2] In 2013, Meta launched a crowd-funded Kickstarter campaign that raised $194,444.[9] Also in 2013, Meta was accepted into the Y Combinator's seed accelerator program.[10] [11] Steve Mann became the company's chief scientist and Steven Feiner became an adviser.[12] [13]

In 2014, founder Gribetz was awarded the "30 Under 30 award" in the technology category by Forbes[14] [15] and Meta won best heads-up display award for the Meta Pro at the Consumer Electronics Show.[16] [17] Meta presented the Meta 1 Developer Kit with a live medical demo at 2014's TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.[18]

In September 2014, Meta began to ship its Meta 1 Developer Kit.[19] [20]

In 2015, Meta received $23 million in Series-A funding from Horizons Ventures, Tim Draper, BOE Optoelectronics, Garry Tan and Alexis Ohanian of Y Combinator, Danhua Capital, Commodore Partners, and Vegas Tech Fund.[21] [22]

In 2016, Meta unveiled its second-generation product at a TED conference.[23] [24] [25] The company received another $50M in venture-capital funds from Lenovo, Tencent, Banyan Capital, Comcast Ventures, and GQY.[26]

In March 2016, it announced the launch of the Meta 2 at the $949 to compete with the Microsoft HoloLens, which retailed for $3000. However, the Meta 2 would be a tethered and would require an external PC whereas the Hololens was a standalone product.[27]

In 2018, Meta furloughed two-thirds of its one hundred employees after it failed to secure another round of venture capital funding.[5] In January 2019, Meta declared itself insolvent after its primary lender foreclosed and sold all the company's assets.[6]

In May 2019, a company called Meta View announced it had acquired the intellectual property assets of Meta,[28] with Jay Wright, who was previously president and general manager of Qualcomm's augmented reality division, Vuforia,[29] chosen as CEO.[28] In July 2021, the company announced a new name, Campfire, and its plans to release a 3D collaboration system for design and engineering later that year.[30]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: META COMPANY :: Delaware (US) :: OpenCorporates .
  2. News: Meta's Meron Gribetz and the rise of the natural machine. Farber. Dan. CNET. 2013-09-09. 2016-02-27.
  3. US Patent 9,720,505, "Extramissive spatial imaging digital eye glass...", Gribetz; Meron (New York, NY), Mann; W. Steve G. (Toronto, CA), filed January 3rd, 2014.
  4. US Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Application 61/748,468, Jan 3, 2013
  5. Web site: Trade War Is Hurting Silicon Valley Augmented Reality Startup. Wang. Selina. September 9, 2018. www.bloomberg.com. 2018-09-23.
  6. Strange, Adario (January 11, 2019) AR Startup Meta Company Shuts Down Amid Asset Foreclosure Sale, Patent Fight, & Executive Departures Next Reality News. (Retrieved January 12, 2019.)
  7. News: Glasses to make you a real-life Tony Stark. Angley. Natalie. CNN. 2013-10-31. 2014-11-14.
  8. News: Meta's spaceglasses promise mobile augmented reality. Das. Sumi. CNET. 2013-10-30. 2016-02-27.
  9. News: Kickstarter: The Most Advanced Augmented Reality Glasses. Kickstarter. 2013-05-17. 2016-02-27.
  10. News: Y Combinator Summer 2013 Demo Day, Batch 2: Meet Meta, Lob, Amulyte, Weilos And More . Crook . Jordan . TECHCRUNCH . 2013-08-20. 2016-02-27.
  11. News: Meta glasses bring 3D and your hands into the picture . Farber . Dan . CNET . 2013-05-17. 2016-02-27.
  12. News: Meta, The World's First Entry-Level AR Glasses, Hires The Father Of Wearable Computing As Chief Scientist. Biggs. John. TechCrunch. 2013-05-21. 2016-02-29.
  13. News: Change Agents: Seeing world through Meta's 3-D glasses. Cava. Marco. USATODAY. 2013-07-30. 2016-02-28.
  14. News: 2014 30 Under 30: Technology. https://web.archive.org/web/20140109073129/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/fdef45mdfe/meron-gribetz-28-2/. dead. January 9, 2014. Forbes. 2016-02-29.
  15. News: 30 Under 30: Meet Technology's Smartest, Youngest And Most Daring Innovators. Guglielmo . Connie . Forbes . 2014-01-06. 2016-02-29.
  16. News: Best of CES 2014. Tom's Guide. 2014-06-09. 2016-02-29.
  17. News: The Best of CES 2014. Lunden. Ingrid. TechCrunch. 2014-01-12. 2016-02-29.
  18. News: Treating Virtual Patients with Meta and SimX. TechCrunch. 2014-09-09. 2016-02-29.
  19. News: Meta 1 Augmented Reality Glasses Are Dragging Us Into A VR Future. Donovan. Jay. TechCrunch. 2014-09-18. 2016-02-29.
  20. News: The World Is One Step Closer To Being Like An 'Iron Man' Movie. Levy. Karyne. TechCrunch . 2014-09-18 . 2016-02-29.
  21. News: Augmented-Reality Headset Maker Meta Secures $23 Million. Chapman. Lizette. Wall Street Journal. 2015-01-28. 2016-02-29.
  22. News: Meta raises $23M Series A to refine its augmented reality glasses. Brewster. Signe. Gigaom. 2015-01-28. 2016-02-29.
  23. News: TED 2016: Meta augmented reality headset demoed at TED. Wakefield. Jane. BBC. 2016-02-17. 2016-02-29.
  24. News: New Augmented Reality Startup Meta Dazzles TED Crowd . Helft . Miguel . Forbes . 2016-02-17 . 2016-02-29.
  25. News: Hands-on with the $949 mind-bending Meta 2 augmented reality headset . Matney . Lucas . TechCrunch. 2016-03-02. 2016-03-02.
  26. News: AR startup Meta raises $50M at around $300M valuation, eyes up China. Techcrunch.
  27. News: Helft. Miguel. 2016-03-02. Startup Meta Unveils $949 Augmented Reality Headset To Rival HoloLens. Forbes. 2016-03-02.
  28. Web site: The New Owner of Meta's Assets Comes Out of Stealth, Announces CEO Appointment. Roettgers. Janko. 2019-05-28. Variety. en. 2019-05-29.
  29. Web site: CES: Looking Through Augmented Reality Glasses at Our Enterprise Future. Marvin. Rob. PCMAG. en. 2019-05-29.
  30. News: Jon Peddie . Collaborating around the Campfire with augmented reality . GraphicSpeak . 2021-07-05 . 2021-10-30.

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