Prism puts an eye-controlled Linux computer in your face

Raven Resonance says it managed to integrate a standalone computer into a pair of smart glasses. Dubbed the “Ambient Computer,” Prism 1 runs Raven OS – a custom Linux platform designed to run independently without being tethered to a smartphone.

The San Francisco startup is pitching it to developers, builders, technical creatives and business users looking for something more open and customizable than most connected wearable devices.

The idea behind the speech is certainly interesting: putting a genuinely independent Linux machine directly in your field of vision.

The Prism screen is located in front of the right eye. It uses a full-color LCoS engine and a diffractive waveguide with a 30-degree diagonal field of view. Raven says the image looks roughly equivalent to a 16-inch screen held at arm’s length, with more than 1,500 nits of brightness.

Instead of filling your vision with augmented reality, the idea is to keep apps and information available at a glance; This is reflected in the position of the screen towards the periphery. Menu navigation is primarily handled by eye and voice, although keyboards, mice, and Bluetooth controllers are also supported. The hardware is completed by a 13 MP front camera, four microphones and two downward-facing speakers.

The system hardware includes an ARM64 processor that supports up to 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and SSH access for custom development.

If you’re wondering how the device stays charged, the answer is Raven Wings: magnetic battery modules that attach to the arms of the glasses and can be hot-swapped without shutting down the system. In other words, the frame itself does not need to be connected to a charger; You remove an exhausted wing and put on a new one. Included with the Prism are two pairs of Wings and a charging case.

The connection also does more than supply power. It routes USB and is intended to function as a modular expansion interface, with Raven eventually floating Wings containing GPS, cellular connectivity, larger batteries, or AI accelerators. None of those modules have been commercialized yet, but the concept may well have future potential beyond longer battery life.

Raven has also built some tangible privacy controls into the hardware (a prudent choice given recent privacy concerns around smart glasses). The camera has a physical cover that must be opened before it can work, while the company’s Beakon lights shine whenever recording is active.

The eye control processing is executed locally, with the help of a dedicated FPGA for local models. Raven says that speech recognition and other sensitive tasks are handled similarly on the glasses whenever possible. The company also says that data only leaves the glasses with your explicit consent, although its broader privacy and security claims have not yet been independently verified.

The Raven Prism 1 costs $1,499, with a fully refundable $49 deposit guaranteeing a spot in Lot 4, scheduled to ship in mid-2027. Availability is initially limited to the US, with a European launch planned later. The built-in prescription support currently ranges from -4.5 to +4.5 diopters.

The startup has experienced people on its team, including veterans from Apple, Samsung Research, XREAL, and Leap Motion. Still, Prism is Raven Resonance’s first commercial product, so the company doesn’t yet have a history of producing consumer hardware.

Although the current selling price is high, Prism 1 offers a clearly open alternative to the current smart glasses landscape. However, as a first-time hardware manufacturer, Raven Resonance still needs to prove it can scale production and deliver on its ambitious feature set.

Source: Raven Resonance