Swarovski's AX Visio - The World's FIRST AI-Assisted Binocular!

Swarovski kicks off 2024 with the AX Visio – the world’s first AI-assisted binocular. The AX Visio (Augmented Experience) utilizes artificial intelligence to assist in the identification of over 9000 birds, butterflies, dragonflies, mammals and other wildlife with the push of a button. These groundbreaking field glasses were designed with input from award-winning industrial designer Marc Newson, the same designer that helped create Swarovski’s renowned CL Curio binocular line. While in the development process, Marc Newson took design cues from CL Curio, evident in the extruded aluminum bridge as well as the focusing wheel detail. Newson was also inspired by Swarovski’s Habich series, the profile of which was specifically designed to house the porro prism arrangement. The profile of the AX Visio mirrors the Habich design, but rather than housing porro prisms, it houses the electronic components.

The AX Visio’s software is created over the course of 23,000 hours, involving 475,000 lines of code and 20 different programing languages to build its advanced artificial intelligence. To ensure exceptionally fast processing of relevant information for object recognition, the AX Visio is outfitted with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). This works extremely well in the identification of birds and mammals. Recognition is further enhanced with the Geolocation function, which takes into account the user’s current location to improve identification reliability. The AX Visio comes equipped with multiple integrated apps: The Merlin Bird ID, Mammal ID, Butterfly ID, and Dragonfly ID. These apps work in conjunction with the Swarovski Optik Wildlife ID smartphone app, as well as a new version of the Merlin Bird ID smartphone app.

In addition to its bird/wildlife identification abilities, the AX Visio also offers a wide array of other practical functions. An integrated camera allows the user to capture images and videos, which can then be immediately managed and shared via smartphone with the SWAROVSKI OPTIK Outdoor App. Other features include an integrated compass, and Favorit 1 and Favorit 2 functions can be used to load additional apps via the SWAROVSKI OPTIK Outdoor App. Like all of Sawovski’s premium optics, the AX Visio is outfitted with pure fluoride lenses for outstanding light transmission, clarity, detail, and color.

Operational specifications aside, one of the greatest aspects of the AUG rifle series is the ergonomics. That funky, futuristic design doesn’t just look cool in movies, it offers excellent control over the whole weapon. I’m not quite sure how to describe it, but the AUG A3 M1 just feels natural to bring to your shoulder, and measuring in at a mere 28.15 inches, is incredibly pointable. These qualities, plus a foldable fore-grip make handling the AUG A3 M1 an absolute delight. The rifle’s controls are equally as impressive. The two-position cross-bolt safety is in an optimal position that’s close to the user’s dominate hand, and a large magazine release switch located directly behind the magazine allows for fast reloads even when wearing gloves. Another user-friendly feature is the charging handle which can be locked in the rearward position similar to that of an MP5. Unfortunately, there is one major drawback to the AUG A3 M1 – it does NOT come with the signature integrated optic/carry handle. Not gonna lie, that was a major letdown for me and deals a serious blow to the rifle’s “cool factor”. It does however come with a 16-slot picatinny rail for installing an optic of choice, but it just doesn’t have the same AUG silhouette that I’ve seen in the countless B-movies of the 80s and 90s. All things considered, the AUG A3 M1 is still an outstanding weapon. The ergonomics, intuitive controls, and reliability-enhancing design features makes the AUG A3 M1 an excellent alternative to an AR-platform.