If you’ve ever hunched over your laptop in economy class on an airplane, felt cramped in a coffee shop, or wanted to get more work done on a longer Uber ride, the solution might be to wear smart glasses and use software that expands your display beyond what your traditional 14-inch or 16-inch laptop could offer.
If that sounds like you, you're just the type of user Sightful founders tell Laptop Mag they are going after — those who want to enjoy a double or triple monitor experience anywhere they go, just by putting on a pair of glasses.
On Monday, a newly relaunched software program developed by Sightful, an Israeli firm founded in 2020, called Spacetop—more on that stellar name later—debuted inside a ballroom at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This follows the company's pivot from a display-less laptop to software only four months ago.
Spacetop utilizes XREAL smart glasses to expand your AI Windows laptop screen experience to something that feels much larger. (The software is only available on Windows computers in the US.)
When I put on the glasses, I immediately smiled. I knew everything about how I work on my laptop could be different, and probably better, forever.
Now, that’s a big sell. But at the dawn of the smart glasses era here in early 2025, many things will be different forever if you’re a little obsessed with an organized workspace and don’t want to be slowed down just because you’re on the go.
Featuring a dot-grid-designed canvas that feels a little like Figjam, Spacetop creates a tidy workspace, and when the transparency is turned off, the canvas becomes black and each dot white, a bit like twinkling stars in a midnight sky.
The company says the display experience can even go beyond 100 inches of work area, and it's all within a display that shows up behind the lenses you show to the world.
It feels very much like our incredible future—even if you’re skeptical about the value proposition of augmented reality.
Can Sightful succeed in a crowded market?
Augmented reality is an increasingly crowded market, even regarding productivity. Apple Vision Pro, which starts at $3,499, notably offers a fundamentally similar experience. In September, Meta introduced the Orion prototype — also augmented reality glasses.
The performance and experience of many have been generally positive. And the form factor of the glasses is getting less "Glasshole" and more Wayfarer-y. Cooler. Less obvious. Normal.
Tamir Berliner, co-founder and CEO of Sightful, told Laptop Mag on Monday night at the Sightful booth at CES that his company has a “three-year head start” on the competition. That's because Sightful had previously been developing its SpacetopOS software for an Android-based, display-less laptop.
Sightful ditched its display-less Spacetop laptop in October 2024, keeping the best part about its project — the augmented reality canvas that brings every window to you on the same screen.
For productivity and project-management obsessives who don't care much about the photos other smart glasses can take, Spacetop is the perfect solution to create a harmonious, private, augmented reality workspace.
How much does Spacetop cost?
Company reps say a subscription to the Spacetop service — a software-as-a-service product and not a one-time purchase — starts at $950 for one year or $1,050 for two years, and that includes a pair of XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses.
If you already have prescription glasses, Sightful will also cover the cost of those lenses, though progressive lenses will cost more.
Are the XREAL glasses the right match for Spacetop?
Laptop Mag highly rates XREAL glasses. While that company has new pairs on the horizon (look out for the XREAL One Pro to ship in March 2025), Berliner, the CEO of Sightful, says Spacetop software uses the slightly older XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses.
This is because of the computer vision technology that optimizes performance with the Spacetop software, though a company statement indicates it intends to offer more glasses options in the future. The XREAL Air 2 Ultra glasses have a refresh rate of 90 Hz and offer 1920x1080 resolution in each eye.
If you already own a pair of XREAL glasses and want to use Spacetop software, Berliner encourages users to contact the company directly.
What are the minimum requirements to run Spacetop?
What's next
Sightful is positioning Monday's relaunch of Spacetop as an "early access" launch, and several of my questions about technical support or other use cases were met with the response of "contact us."
The company seems keen on building a community of users, and the Spacetop program has an easy-to-find feedback modal for users.
If you're a MacBook user, the company states compatibility for those Apple laptops is on the 2026 roadmap.
