Andy Rubin's Playground Global invests $15 million in CastAR augmented reality startup

You guys remember Andy Rubin, right? He was one of our favorites personalities, and he happened to also play a major role in the making of Android. It’s sad to no longer see him at Google, but you can be sure he is very active in the industry. Rubin launched an investing hardware incubator named Playground Global, and he is overlooking new companies from there.

We haven’t heard much about the company’s ventures since its inception, but today we are learning about a major investment they are making into CastAR. And they are getting no chump change; Rubin is investing a whopping $15 million on the augmented reality-focused startup. This funding comes in the form of cash, office space, knowledge and more.

So what does CastAR do? The company creates a set of glasses that can project holographic images in front of you, using your surroundings as a base. In essence, you would be seeing a digital layer on top of the real world. These glasses can be used for gaming, navigating, designing and more.

CastAR is not your usual startup, that’s for sure. They must be pretty special in order to catch Andy Rubin’s attention. It turns out Andy was not the only one impressed by the project, though. The company raised over $1 million on Kickstarter and was backed by 3,863 pledgers, back in 2013. This thing is a hit, and they have live working demos that prove how fun the CastAR glasses can be.

The best part? These are meant to be for the consumer. The pricing (unspecified) won’t be nuts and it will be unnecessary to have a super expensive computer to go with your lenses, like it is with certain other VR headsets.

“A $1,000 gaming PC to go with your lenses isn’t a consumer product” -David Henkel-Wallace, chief executive at CastAR

“They’re the only company I found to be simplifying the utility and application of augmented and virtual reality technology into a fun, accessible, and portable system that will wow kids and adults alike.” -Andy Rubin, managing director at  Playground Global

With all this money in hand, that 11-person team is sure to expand. The design, technology and production should also receive its push, so expect to see these this company growing soon. What do you guys think? Would you buy a CastAR headset? What would be your ideal price?