SureFire's ARON ecosystem enables augmented reality without Wi-Fi
SureFire is laying the foundation for a post-Wi-Fi world. Its new platform, ARON, is a communications system designed to transmit real-world data via infrared light, allowing users to access an augmented reality view of their immediate surroundings. It's a lot like Google Lens -- but it doesn't rely on Wi-Fi, cellular data, geolocation or orientation tools. ARON stands for "augmented reality optical narrowcasting" and it's able to transmit any type of digital file format, including high-definition video and images, up to 400 meters during the day and 1,200 meters at night. The data travels on square beams of infrared light, creating a secure connection between the device -- whether a smartphone, car, computer or wearable -- and the sensor in the real world. Ditching Wi-Fi and data creates a secure connection, but it would also come in handy wherever internet connectivity is weak or nonexistent, and in the face of natural disasters, which typically wipe out Wi-...