Now in Production and on Sale at b8ta: Avegant Glyph and Oura Ring

Two products that have been with b8ta from the start have graduated from try-only prototype and are now ready for purchase.

PALO ALTO, Calif., – WEBWIRE – Friday, July 15, 2016

July 15, 2016 -- Today b8ta, a software-powered retailer, announces it’s one of the first retailers to carry Avegant Glyph and Oura Ring, two products individually transforming both the entertainment and wellness industries. Artfully designed to transform consumers’ senses and provide unprecedented readings to help mental and physical health, both Avegant Glyph and Oura Ring have graduated from prototype, with one functioning unit on display at b8ta, to production. Both products are now available exclusively for purchase at b8ta’s flagship store in Palo Alto.

Over the past several years, we’ve seen a shift as industries have prioritized developing products for a growing consumer trend: body-hacking. Ranging from the entertainment industry to the medical field, there has been a major push to enhance the senses and understand how the human body operates.

Here are some details about each product:

Avegant Glyph recreates natural sight—there’s no screen. It is the world’s first personal theater designed with Avegant’s patented Retinal Imaging Technology which uses advanced optics and microscopic mirrors to project images directly to the eyes.
Oura Ring goes beyond measuring individual metrics, like steps or heart rate, to helps consumers understand how their body responds to activities, daily choices and rhythms – their lifestyle and behavior – both in the short and long term. Paired with the app, the Oura Ring delivers personalized and actionable recommendations, visualizing the insights regarding wearer sleep, activity, and readiness to perform.

Today’s lifestyle and wellness marketplace has become overcrowded with hardware and IoT-powered products that promise better readings and results on everything from hydration levels to superior sound quality. As a result, today’s consumers have a difficult time navigating and discovering products that accurately fit their lifestyle. On the other side of the spectrum, makers with prototypes frequently encounter roadblocks in advancing products through the prototype stage to be sold in retail.

Enter b8ta, the first software-powered retailer to make shopping in-store interactive by connecting consumers to makers of transformative products. To aid discovery and improve experience, b8ta showcases every product out of the box so visitors can engage with the latest tech products on the market, while b8ta’s highly trained staff are available to educate and provide curated product tours. This provides makers with unprecedented access and real-time feedback on their prototype model, helping them to make necessary adjustments and condense the timeline in launching products.

“This is a really cool moment in b8ta’s history. For the first time ever, we put unfinished prototype products in front of our customers and let them test them, took pre-orders in our store for 6 months and we now launch their finished product into retail,” said Vibhu Norby, CEO and co-founder of b8ta. “This is why we created b8ta: to support early stage companies all the way from prototype to retail. Other retailers continue to fall behind on launching new products to their detriment.”

Alongside Avegant Glyph and Oura Ring, b8ta is also excited to announce the following products available in-store this month: Merge VR, Neo Smartpen N2, Petcube, Piper Computer Kit, and Sense by Hello.

To learn more about b8ta, visit b8ta.com, or visit the flagship store at 516 Bryant Street, Palo Alto.

About b8ta
b8ta was founded in 2015 by Nest alums Vibhu Norby (CEO), Phillip Raub (CMO), and William Mintun (COO) to remove the frustrations new companies and early adopters currently face with traditional retail. To meet the needs of the quickly evolving technology industry, b8ta developed a unique and proprietary software stack to give companies full, real-time control over their brand to create the best possible experience for consumers. b8ta’s flagship location is at 516 Bryant Street, Palo Alto. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.