Xiaomi Unveils Lightweight Smart Glasses As Complete Smartphone Replacement
Image via Xiaomi
Xiaomi has just revealed its newest creation: smart glasses that may be capable of replacing smartphones.
On Monday, the tech giant put out a video that showed the glasses off in all its sleek, futuristic technology. Weighing in at only 51g (1.8oz), the small wearable certainly packs a punch with the features packed into its slim frame.
Described as “an engineer’s look into an advanced future,” the glasses are able to display notifications, make calls, navigate, take photos, and translate text “right before your eyes,” thanks to a teeny chip—measuring just 2.4 x 2.02-mm (0.09 x 0.08”)—within its frame.
Under a microscope, the company states, this powerful chip is “smaller than a grain of rice.”
Image via Xiaomi
But don’t worry, you’re not going to be squinting at this tiny screen embedded in the glasses trying to read the wall of text that you just got forwarded. MicroLED technology ensures that a much larger display is created in front of you.
Generating somewhat of an “external” display enables the glasses to take up less space in structural design and retain their lightweight form. The MicroLED pixels, like OLED, are individually lit to create brighter displays with higher contrast.
Integration of “optical waveguide technology” transmits refracted light beams to the eye safely via the “microscopic grating” of the lens, allowing users to see a screen even if it isn’t physically there.
The company states that the wearable isn’t just a secondary display for users’ smartphones thanks to its 497 components, which cover miniature sensors, communication modules, and a five-megapixel camera. It claims that the glasses can function entirely on their own, doing away with the need to carry a smartphone wherever we go.
Calls can even be taken with the glasses alone, as the display will show caller ID and a built-in microphone and speaker will enable crisp sound. There’s also a quad-core ARM processor, touchpad, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules.
Image via Xiaomi
Xiaomi’s smart glasses aren’t the only foray into high-tech wearables that can sit, without obstruction, on a user’s face. Facebook and Ray-Ban have tried their hands at a similar concept, and so has Amazon.
But most of the products currently under development do act as the secondary screen that would need a main device connection. In this scenario, Xiaomi has gotten a leg up in the competition.
[via Digital Trends, images via Xiaomi]
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