AI glasses will raise the banner of "revival" in 2024 .

Among the AI ​​hardware that have changed in large models, smart glasses have been endorsed by Bill Gates, Zuckerberg and others. And the industry has fulfilled their wishes, bringing about a wave of renaissance in smart glasses. In particular, Ray-Ban Meta, a collaboration between Meta and Ray-Ban, achieved million-level sales and completely ignited the technology world’s enthusiasm for AI glasses.

Since then, Huawei has equipped its smart glasses 2 with the latest Hongmeng 4 system and Pangu large model; at the Baidu World Conference, Baidu officially released Xiaodu AI glasses; intelligent hardware company Rokid also followed suit and launched a new generation of AR glasses Rokid Glasses.

There are more products ready to go. Foreign Microsoft, Apple, Google, Samsung, domestic Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Tencent, Byte, Meizu, etc., almost all leading technology companies are There is news that an eyewear project is being prepared or evaluated.

However, many geeks and technology enthusiasts are skeptical about this wave of AI glasses renaissance after experiencing the failure of Google Glass.

Can sci-fi smart glasses really bid farewell to "electronic waste" this time and embark on the road to revival? The turning point of revival may be the arrival of the thousand-yuan machine moment.

Since Google pioneered smart glasses in 2012 , this category has been trapped in the "cyclical law" of hardware.

Early new technology concept products were wildly pursued by geeks and futurists, causing explosions and bubbles. However, due to vague demand, immature technology, and unclear product form, the functions were ultimately useless and could not be popularized on a large scale. They were abandoned by the mass consumer market and entered a period of silence. Then, with the update and iteration of technology, they entered a new round. bubbles and recessions.

Many new technologies often only have one chance and lose credibility after the bubble bursts, such as virtual currency and quantum XX. However, smart glasses will always scratch the hearts of giants and the public when there are new breakthroughs in AI technology.

After more than ten years of ups and downs, the smart glasses industry has also left a mess. For example, Google Glass had to abandon C and switch from B to commercial scenarios; Snap Spectacles sales were dismal; Tencent smart glasses lacked customers. Interested... But technology companies, geeks and the public are always willing to give smart glasses a chance and look forward to it becoming a reality.

What is so special about this category?

Probably because smart glasses simultaneously carry people’s beautiful imagination of the fusion of digital and reality, as well as the illusory promise of near-eye display wearable devices.

Living in a digital world parallel to the real world, we have always It is a dream shared by the technology community and science fiction enthusiasts. Smart glasses allow people to directly interact with the physical world without using smartphones, and are lighter and more comfortable than VR devices. Smart glasses are regarded as the next disruptive product after smartphones.

In addition to Google, domestic technology companies such as Baidu also began to explore this track ten years ago. At the 2014 World Congress, a product called BaiduEye was released, which can search and translate through voice or gestures. According to media reports, Gu Jiawei, the head of BaiduEye, also became a serial entrepreneur in the smart hardware industry after leaving Baidu.

It can be seen that the unique charm of smart glasses will always attract geeks and technology enthusiasts time and time again.

However, due to the immaturity of previous technologies, smart glasses have bottlenecks that are difficult to break through in terms of privacy protection, display effects, battery life, functions, etc., and cannot truly fulfill the promises made at the concept product launch conference in the mass consumer market. Promises are disappointed again and again.

Smart glasses, trapped in the hardware cycle, have shown tenacious vitality, and finally reached an inflection point of revival in the era of large models.

The arrival of large models has completely changed the concept of smart glasses Human-computer interaction experience has made significant progress in aspects such as speech understanding and AI function implementation, overcoming the shortcomings of artificial intelligence in the past machine learning era, and rekindling the public's enthusiasm for smart glasses.

The combination of large models and smart glasses has shown a trend of multiple routes in the early stages. At present, there are three main productization routes:

The first is "AI+AR glasses" with simple display.

This type of product became popular with Ray-Ban Meta, a collaboration between Ray-Ban and Meta, and became a trendsetter. In terms of product form, core components such as motherboards, computing platforms, and optical display modules are highly integrated into traditional glasses, providing the best wearing comfort while being both fashionable and functional. The addition of AI capabilities such as cameras, voice interaction, and multi-modality has revolutionized the product capabilities of smart glasses.

Baidu AI glasses, smart glasses jointly created by traditional glasses brand LOHO, Shanji Technology, and iFlytek, as well as Rokid Glasses launched by smart hardware company Rokid, and Sense smart glasses launched by Emteq Labs, etc. Belongs to this category.

The biggest difference from other smart glasses products is that the human-computer interaction method adopts the form of voice. Users can evoke the built-in multi-modal glasses through voice commands. The AI ​​assistant created by the model interacts with AI and uses functions such as real-time image description and text translation.

For example, Baidu AI Eye. The mirror has a built-in camera for taking photos and videos. It supports voice interaction based on Baidu Wenxin Yiyan (Ernie), which can realize questions while walking in travel scenarios, real-time monitoring of calorie consumption in sports scenarios, and more in office and study scenarios. Language translation. Because it is backed by Baidu, its AI model capabilities are the same as Meta's in the world's first echelon, so Baidu AI glasses are also considered to be Meta's Ray-Bans’ Chinese benchmark product.

Rokid, founded in 2014, has accumulated a series of hardware, operating systems, ecological partners and other resources in the field of AR glasses over the years, and everything is ready. , also seized on this wave of AI glasses craze and launched Rokid Glasses with both AI visual perception and AR display technology.

Specifically, Rokid Glasses pass green Micro-LED The diffraction light waveguide solution displays green UI and text on the lens. It also integrates Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen large model, which has functions such as object recognition, text translation, mathematical problem solving, and AI real-time navigation. Rokid is also in the system and algorithm. A lot of work has been done at the level to achieve deep integration and collaboration of software and hardware, allowing large models to provide a smoother and more stable experience on AI glasses.

Second, full-color display of "AI+AR." Glasses".

Previously, AR glasses have been exploring geometric light waveguide + LCoS full-color microdisplay solutions. These solutions are characterized by high resolution and bright colors, and can be seamlessly integrated with the real world, bringing a more immersive visual experience. Compared with the simple display of the first type of AI glasses, this solution combined with large AI models can create a more sci-fi experience.

The representative product is Meta’s Orion, which is different from the cooperation with Ray-Ban. AI glasses Ray-Ban Meta, Orion uses neural wristbands to interact with smart glasses through gestures, and operates various AI applications, virtual photo albums, etc. through multiple gesture recognitions.

The challenges of full-color display technology and human-computer interaction have not yet been completely solved. For example, the display effect of Orion is still difficult to balance between clarity and distance. , the clarity will decrease after zooming in, affecting the visual perception and gesture interaction., the recognition rate of the algorithm is still unstable, and requires high learning costs. Except for high-frequency scenarios that are just needed, it will be difficult for users to have the patience to persist in using it.

Article 3, XR display device + system-level AI.

Represented by Apple Vision Pro, it combines XR mixed reality devices with AI to bring a disruptive spatial intelligence experience. It is currently the most sci-fi-like smart glasses category. However, since its inception, it has been heavy (ten times the weight of the glasses in Solution 1), prone to fatigue (dizziness and eye fatigue may occur after wearing it for more than 30 minutes), low frequency of use (few users, lack of sticky applications), and high price ($3,499). ) and other problems have also limited it to niche circles such as geeks and technology bloggers, and it has never been able to enter the mass consumer market. It is reported that Apple is developing AI+AR glasses similar to Route 1.

At present, after a period of competition, Yan, the mainstream form of large models + smart glasses is stabilizing, that is, the route of "AI glasses" that takes into account weight, function, and price. It is attracting major manufacturers to accelerate their layout and will be the main form of the renaissance of smart glasses. .

The product form of new hardware has stabilized, and a large number of technology companies If , vertical companies and even white-label foundries want to participate, they will enter a stage where a hundred flowers bloom and promote the explosive growth of the market. AI glasses will most likely recreate the “thousand-yuan phone moment” in the field of smartphones.

In 2014, smartphones ushered in their own "thousand-yuan phone moment." 4G networks have begun to spread, candybar touch-screen smartphones have become stable, and the supply chain has matured. More consumers want to buy cost-effective smartphones, which has created a huge blank market. Countless brand regulars are eager to give it a try and enter a stage of fierce competition, clearing out copycat phones from the market. Smartphones have thus begun to become popular on a large scale.

AI glasses have also arrived on the eve of the "thousand-yuan machine moment".

On the one hand, market demand and acceptance have been subverted formula changes. The large model has completely reshaped the practicality and functionality of smart glasses. Real-time AI translation, voice calls, AIGC, visual understanding and other capabilities are deployed in AI glasses, which can replace some of the functions of smartphones, and the product power has reached an inflection point at the consumer level.

In addition, the pattern of traditional smart terminals such as mobile phones, tablets, and PCs has been difficult to shake. The creativity of many small and medium-sized manufacturers and developers has been released. Smart glasses provide opportunities for technological innovation and differentiated competition. . Just as brands are blooming in the era of thousand-yuan machines, AIThe product richness of glasses will further increase, and products with unique functions and fine-tuned and optimized models can meet the different needs of consumers.

With practicality and more choices, the increasingly fierce market competition will promote the further maturity of the AI ​​glasses supply chain and make the overall cost more controllable. It is very possible to open the inflection point of exponential rise at around 1,000 yuan. of.

Currently, Rokid Glasses is priced at 2,499 yuan, which is more cost-effective than other similar products on the market. Baidu AI glasses are expected to be officially sold next year, and the price is said to be in the 2,000 yuan range. In addition, Xiaomi and small and medium-sized science and technology companies have also caught wind of this and are eyeing this track... In 2025, the "thousand-yuan machine moment" of AI glasses may not be far away.

After ten years of dreaming, smart glasses, regarded as the next generation of disruptive products for smartphones, have finally taken the first step into the mass consumer market.