Xiaomi Announces Augmented Reality Glasses
Mobile World Congress 2023 just kicked off in Barcelona, and Xiaomi is already making its presence known with a physical live event to launch its Xiaomi 13 flagship phone series and a surprise announcement of a prototype AR (augmented reality) smart glasses that are truly wireless.
The official name of the glasses is Xiaomi Wireless AR Smart Glass Explorer Edition, and as the name gives away, the glasses are completely wireless. This alone is impressive, as all other consumer AR glasses from brands like nReal and TCL require a cable to plug into a host device. Xiaomi engineers say they developed a proprietary low-latency communication link that allow wireless connection between the smart glass and host device to achieve latency of just 50 millisecond, which is low enough that the average human cannot detect lag.
The glasses feature two Micro OLED screens with a free-form light-guiding prism module that outputs content to your eyes. They boast a peak brightness of up to 1200 nits per eye. Xiaomi also incorporated three camera modules that are used to map out the user’s surrounding world.
AR Glass boast electrochromic lenses with immersed mode for complete immersion in the virtual space and transparent mode for that lets the user see objects from their surroundings. The headset features a magnesium-lithium alloy structure with carbon fiber elements and weighs 126 grams.
The smart glass uses a pair of MicroOLED displays to pump out visuals with 58PPD (pixel-per-degree), which again, is high resolution enough that the human eyes won’t be able to detect visuals. Content being broadcast in front of my face looked vibrant and vivid, and appeared to be floating in front.
Gesture control
Xiaomi said that its AR glasses are lightweight and connect to a smartphone wirelessly. Xiaomi also said the device offers “retina-level display” so users are able to see virtual objects as clearly as they would a physical object.
The Beijing, China-headquartered firm also said that wearers of the headset can use gesture control to carry out tasks. Users would raise their hands in front of the glasses while they are wearing them and then move their hand and fingers in specific ways to execute a function. For example, Xiaomi said that “the thumb sliding on the index finger is used to enter and exit applications.”
The idea is that this could remove the need for you to touch your smartphone.
“This kind of interaction showcases one of the directions that Xiaomi believes human-computer interaction will take in the future,” the company said.
The company said that the headset will work with its Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro, its flagship smartphones launched globally on Sunday.
Xiaomi, one of the biggest smartphone players in the world, is looking to unlock revenue from other devices. Over the past few years, the company has launched devices across the board from TVs to electric scooters.
“Xiaomi’s new AR glasses feel more like a stake in the ground than a meaningful product launch. Chinese rivals including Oppo and TCL have also shown off AR devices and it’s clear no one wants to get left behind,”.
