Xiaomi merges real and virtual with AR Glass Discovery Edition glasses. Xiaomi tries to get ahead of Apple with its first glasses that blend virtual reality with the real world, just announced at MWC23. Xiaomi has unveiled its Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition, a compact AR headset that uses the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 processor found in Meta’s Quest Pro. The company says these oversized sunglasses offer a stylish way to blend the digital and real worlds without requiring a connection to a smartphone.
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Weighing 126 grams, Xiaomi crafted the hardware with magnesium-titanium alloy parts and carbon fiber to lighten the load. They also integrate a silicon-oxygen anode battery.
As for the displays, the glasses offer two microOLED screens connected to a pair of “free-form” prisms. The company says this technology suffers from less brightness loss than other close-up displays, capable of peak brightness of 1,200 nits. And, for added immersion, the front of the lenses are electrochromic, automatically dimming when you need to focus on the virtual world.
They support advanced hand-tracking that enables a new form of user interaction, whereby hands can be used to manipulate the digital world. In a concept video, a wearer looks at a smart light and turns it off by sliding a virtual switch above the device. Users will also be able to swipe and tap on Internet pages (or videos), and potentially use these gestures for productivity purposes.
The advent of these glasses is also part of Qualcomm’s plans to leverage its Snapdragon Spaces platform (which we’ve seen on Lenovo glasses right now) to power XR devices. The hardware, when paired with a compatible device like the new Xiaomi 13, promises low enough latency that you won’t notice the lack of cable. Additionally, the company says it will “work closely with developers to accelerate the arrival of AR,” so vital in the still-fledgling space.
Unfortunately there are no details on price or availability, also because it is still a concept.
