After a private round of funding totalling $5.7 million, AR start-up ARKH is looking to innovate Augmented Reality (AR) and social media platforms with a hardware-based solution for consumers.
The ARKH experience is built upon two hardware solutions and a smartphone application, which will overall work in tandem to create a shared immersive experience.
What is on Offer?
The ARKH hub is a desktop device, mapping virtual environments and objects in an AR space that can be shared with others.
ARKH also works alongside user’s smart phones, and when connected to the hub, reveals overlaid AR assets in the shared space to users with the official smartphone application.
Through the ARKH smartphone application, users can share, discover, create, and monetise all assets from their AR space.
ARKH have been teasing a lightweight wearable AR ring solution, giving quick and easy usability to the AR world. Litho AR recently took over the ring project after acquiring ARKH.
London-based Litho AR has been working on a lightweight, haptic controller to build a dynamic solution, allowing high-fidelity spatial interactions for users in mobile AR spaces.
The current Litho controllers sit between the user’s index and middle finger, while ARKH’s ring controller looks to be even smaller, but with the same abundance of features.
Using ARKH’s Shared space
ARKH could potentially become a new breed of social media, and Landon Nickerson, ARKH Chief Executive, looks to continue its success with social media platforms by creating its own platform.
Nickerson began posting content on YouTube in 2014 and currently has an audience of over 3 million subscribers.
While AR/VR solutions do offer social media platforms on their devices and many AR devices offer fantastic new communication technology, ARKH’s consumer-based social media hardware solution presents something new.
A hardware-led, social media platform is a great addition to the e-commerce space, and by focusing on social media monetisation, this rising technology could present a new engaging advertising space.
Much like Facebook or Instagram, ARKH can offer an ecosystem for content creators and brands to work together.
The company are launching a private beta version on December 18th, for those who have already signed up, allowing for a hands-on experience for the three products ARKH has to offer.
