Xiaomi Introduces Wireless AR Glasses Concept You Control In-Air With Hands
Wireless phones blew people’s minds back in the day. Now, Xiaomi presents wireless augmented-reality glasses.
The concept, however, remains as it is: a concept. Manufacturers have yet to realistically figure out how to distribute all that computational technology across eyewear, without physically tethering it to a device such as a smartphone… and then making it lightweight. Nevertheless, the Chinese tech giant believes this is possible.
Xiaomi’s ‘Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition’, teased at Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC 2023), is touted to be “retina-level” and crafted from “aviation-grade” materials. The slick gadget, appearing no larger than your everyday glasses, runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1, the same platform powering Quest Pro.
The wearable weighs only 126g (4.4 ounces), made lightweight from a magnesium-titanium alloy and carbon fiber construction, along with a custom silicon-oxygen anode battery. There’s a myopic clip that near-sighted users could attach to the spectacles, so they won’t have to put on prescription contact lenses or another pair of eyeglasses.
Introducing our latest breakthrough in AR technology - Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition! With low-latency wireless connectivity, retina-level near-eye display for AR glasses, and Xiaomi AR Gesture Control, the era of wireless AR starts now. pic.twitter.com/YrqiMVTXhT
— Lei Jun (@leijun) February 27, 2023
The Wireless AR Glass’s lenses are electrochromatic, being able to switch to transparent mode to interact with the real world via augmented reality, or dimming to accommodate virtual-reality settings. Meanwhile, its microOLED displays are connected to “free-form, light-guiding” prisms and deliver “clear and bright images” with a peak brightness of 1,200nits.
Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition features a lightweight yet sturdy design with a magnesium-lithium alloy structure and carbon fiber materials. Its electrochromic lenses allow for seamless access to reality and the virtual world at a single click. pic.twitter.com/FWANebc4Gp
— Lei Jun (@leijun) February 27, 2023
Notably, the Wireless AR Glass can be controlled by hand gestures. You could flip pages of a digital magazine with your fingertips, or tap around to surf the web in front of your eyes. Turning off smart lights is as simple as flicking a virtual switch in the air.
Wearers could type in mid-air using a “12-knuckle function,” as well as enter and exit apps by sliding their thumb on their index finger.
It’s worth emphasizing that the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass remains a visionary project and a proof-of-concept, hence its ‘Discovery Edition’ moniker. Regardless, the company shares that it will “work closely with developers to expedite the arrival of AR.”
[via Engadget and Pocket-lint, video and images via Xiaomi]
