Tilt Five — specification and verdict
The Tilt Five is not a headset you look through at the world. It is a pair of 100 g glasses with two 1280x720 LCoS pico-projectors that throw an image onto a retroreflective gameboard and bounce it back to your eyes. That buys a 110-degree field of view over the board, but the picture only exists where the board is: look up from the table and there is nothing to see. Head tracking is marker-based off the board itself, read by one of the two infrared cameras in the frame. All rendering happens on a host Windows PC or Android device over a single USB-C cable, so the glasses carry no battery of their own. For training the useful consequence is that everyone around one table sees the same 3D object at the same time and can still see each other's faces.
You buy a kit, not a headset: glasses, one Tilt Five Wand and a gameboard, and Tilt Five states that glasses cannot be bought separately. The entry Ready Player 1 Bundle is 359 USD, the two-player bundle 499 USD and the Game Night Bundle 699 USD, but as of 2026-08-10 the site carries a blanket out-of-stock notice directing partners and institutions to contact the company, so a fleet order is a conversation rather than a checkout. There is no vendor MDM, no kiosk mode and no enterprise licensing programme: each station is a Windows or Android host you manage with your existing tooling. Content is your own build against the Tilt Five SDK. Beyond the kit, budget a host machine per seat, enough table for the unfolded gameboard, and AA batteries for every wand.
Buy it if what you teach is genuinely a tabletop model a group has to read together, and you have a developer who will build against the SDK. Do not buy it as a VR training headset: it is PC- or Android-tethered augmented reality with nothing to see away from the board, and our Android VR courses do not run on it. For standalone safety training a 6DoF standalone headset is the right purchase and the Tilt Five is a complement at best.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the AR — spatial devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 51°, from 9 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 132 g, from 9 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $1900, from 9 models that publish the figure.
Controllers and hand tracking
Tilt Five Wand
6DoF
Seven infrared LEDs read by the two IR cameras in the glasses, which are looking down at the retroreflective board anyway. 88 g on a single AA cell, with a trigger, a stick and seven buttons — a tabletop game controller that happens to be tracked in 3D.
In the boxHow it is tracked
Headset cameras
The headset watches markers on the controller, so it loses a hand held behind the back or low at the hip until it comes back into view.
The controller itself
- Controller weight
- 88 g
- Controller power
- AA batteries
- Controller haptics
- Yes
- Finger tracking on the controller
- None
- Controller inputs
- index trigger · joystick · 7 buttons
Other controllers
This headset’s own controllers only
Bare hands
No hand tracking — a controller is the only way in.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- Tilt Five
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- AR — spatial
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- PC-powered AR
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2019-09-24
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2021
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- On sale
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- Support ends: not published by the manufacturer
- DisplayHow the image is produced. "No display" is a real answer in this category, not a gap.
- See-through, both eyes (type not stated)
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- Both eyes
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 1280x720
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- Refresh rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- 110°
- Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves.
- Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- Brightness: not published by the manufacturer
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- 100 g
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- Visible field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- Rendered field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- Binocular overlap: not published by the manufacturer
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens.
- Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- Subpixel layout: not published by the manufacturer
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Fits over glasses
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Glasses frame
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- plastic · silicone rubber
- ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in.
- White
- Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers.
- No
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- 6DoF (position in space)
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- 2
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- No
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- No
- Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios.
- No
- Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs.
- None
- Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only.
- Yes
- Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller.
- Tilt Five Wand
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- 6DoF
- Controller tracking methodWhat establishes where the controller is. It decides whether the controller keeps working behind your back or down at your hip — “6DoF” on its own does not say.
- Headset cameras
- Other controllersWhether the headset works with controllers other than the ones it ships with.
- This headset’s own controllers only
- Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how.
- None
- Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers.
- index trigger · joystick · 7 buttons
- Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand.
- Yes
- Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question.
- AA batteries
- Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it.
- 88 g
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer
- Where it computesWhether the device computes on its own or depends on a phone, PC or belt-worn puck.
- Driven by a PC
- ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from.
- Intel Movidius
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- CPU: not published by the manufacturer
- GPUThe graphics part of the chip.
- GPU: not published by the manufacturer
- MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be.
- Memory: not published by the manufacturer
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- Platform: not published by the manufacturer
- StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages.
- Storage: not published by the manufacturer
- SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card.
- SD card slot: not published by the manufacturer
- BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure.
- Battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw.
- Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two.
- Battery capacity (mAh): not published by the manufacturer
- Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it.
- Charge time: not published by the manufacturer
- ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above.
- Charger: not published by the manufacturer
- External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head.
- External battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with.
- Charging case: not published by the manufacturer
- Hot-swap batteryWhether a charged battery can replace the empty one without ending the session. This is what decides if a headset can hold an all-day training station.
- Hot-swap battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Third-party appsHow a third party's application reaches the device: an ordinary Android package, a vendor-only SDK, or not at all.
- Vendor SDK only
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- No
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- No
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- No
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- No
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- FCC Part 15 Class B · ISED RSS-102
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- USB Type-C
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- Wi-Fi: not published by the manufacturer
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- Bluetooth: not published by the manufacturer
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Over a cable (USB Type-C)
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers
- MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert.
- Yes
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- Microphones: not published by the manufacturer
- CameraA camera is what makes a remote expert call and photo documentation possible.
- Yes
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Mid range
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- $359
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- Ready Player 1 Bundle (glasses, wand, gameboard) $359 · Ready Player 2 Bundle $499 · Game Night Bundle $699
- Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer.
- $359
Who this device is for
This suits museums, classrooms, design reviews and R&D groups where a few people lean over the same shared 3D model while keeping eye contact and wearing their own prescription glasses, which the frame is designed to fit over. It does not suit a training department that wants headsets it can hand out, lock down and update centrally.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
Tilt Five publishes brightness in lumens rather than nits and gives no refresh rate, no frame dimensions and no ambient-light guidance, so how well a projected image survives a lit classroom cannot be judged from the spec sheet. The company's own page says about 100 g while a launch-era press article said 80 g; we kept the manufacturer's figure. Nothing on the site announces a discontinuation, yet the shop has been out of stock and the newsroom silent since May 2025, and no end-of-support date is published for the drivers or the SDK.
Tilt Five in independent reviews
Reviews we consider worth your time, each with a note on what the reviewer actually tested and why it matters for a training rollout. We do not own this hardware, so the tests are theirs — the reading of them is ours.
- Adam Savage’s Tested2023
Norm walks through the pico-projector hardware that makes the tabletop illusion work, compares the AR experience against other headsets and plays several games with the wand controller. His conclusion — that this is the kind of comfortable AR that makes sense for location-based experiences — is exactly the frame a training buyer should apply to it.
Watch on YouTube - EEVblog2022
An electronics engineer's unboxing, and the most practically useful video here: the chapter list runs through the retroreflective game board, the USB 3 connection and fan cooling, the robustness of the frames, and a first test that fails before it works. If you are planning a deployment, the failure and what fixed it are the part to watch.
Watch on YouTube - UploadVR2023
UploadVR's CES segment, notable for a single claim: after years of AR demos they call this the best one they have seen, and they credit the lightweight wide-field optics rather than the software. Useful as the enthusiastic end of the range next to the engineering-minded videos above.
Watch on YouTube - LabCat2022
An owner's amateur review, filmed free-hand through the glasses rather than captured from the PC. The image quality suffers for it, and that is the point — it is the closest thing here to what the system actually looks like on a face, which no press capture shows.
Watch on YouTube
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Tilt Five — frequently asked questions
- Do the Tilt Five glasses work without the gameboard?
- No. The projectors in the frame have no screen of their own; they need the retroreflective gameboard to bounce the image back to your eyes. Away from the board the glasses show nothing, which is why every kit ships with a board and why Tilt Five does not sell the glasses on their own.
- Can Tilt Five run Skillsive VR training courses?
- No. Our courses are standalone Android VR applications, while the Tilt Five is tethered augmented reality that renders on a host Windows PC or Android device and displays only on its board. There is no headset operating system to install an APK into, so anything you want to show has to be built against the Tilt Five SDK.
- Can you still buy a Tilt Five in 2026?
- Not through ordinary retail. On 2026-08-10 the shop still listed bundles from 359 USD up to 699 USD, but under a site-wide out-of-stock notice saying partners and institutions should contact the company directly. Treat availability as a direct enquiry, and ask about driver and SDK support before committing to a fleet.
Compare this device
Consider these too
The nearest devices in the same class, ranked by availability and launch price — not by our opinion of them.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-16. Manufacturer's specification
Product and company names used here are the trademarks of their respective owners and appear only to identify the hardware being compared. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of these manufacturers. Illustrations are our own.