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On the evening of January 7, Thunderbird Innovation released the first Thunderbird V3 AI shooting glasses, equipped with Alibaba Tongyi’s custom-made intent recognition large model glasses product, which is also the first large model in China Customized cooperation with AI glasses hardware manufacturers to promote end-side model implementation of AI glasses.

Since 2024, there has been a craze for AI glasses at home and abroad. The trigger is undoubtedly the second-generation shooting glasses launched by Meta and Ray-Ban, which have currently exceeded the sales milestone of 1 million pairs. Annual shipments are expected to exceed 2 million units.

In addition to start-ups such as Thunderbird Innovation, Shanji Technology, XRreal, and ROKID, Baidu, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc. have also announced or spread news about their deployment in the field of AI glasses. Thunderbird founder Li Hongwei said that 2025 is destined to be the year of the century for smart glasses.

A reporter from "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" noticed that many AI glasses released in China are connected to large models such as Alibaba Tongyi Qianwen and Baidu Wenxin Yiyan on the device or in the cloud. , is expected to accelerate the implementation of large model applications on the consumer side.

Many industry analysts told reporters from the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily that the technological maturity of combining large models with AI glasses is improving, but the market’s construction of an application ecosystem for large model capabilities has just begun. In the long run, the ultimate goal of the development of the AI ​​glasses market is still AR/VR head-mounted display devices, but smart glasses provide major players in the market with development path options that are more conducive to commercialization.

▌Large models are accelerated in AI glasses

This new The released Thunderbird V3, together with Alibaba Tongyi, created the industry's first large AI model specifically for smart glasses, which is mainly used to better understand user needs in glasses scenarios and provide agents with more accurate knowledge support and decision-making basis. .

On this basis, Thunderbird V3 will be launched in the first half of 2025 with RayNeo radio station, "Exploration Horizon 2.0 continuous vision large model", mobile notification AI summary broadcast, QQ music on demand, AI news podcast, all Scene recording summary, Zhi Xiaobao scan code payment and other functions. "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" also noted that Thunderbird V3 is provided by ArcSoft Technology, a company listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

At the press conference, Thunderbird Innovation demonstrated its progress in the field of AR optics: the first self-developed light engine "Fluorescent Light Engine", the world's first mass-produced surface relief grating etched optical waveguide "RayNeo Optical Waveguide". Thunderbird X3 Pro will be equipped with the above-mentioned AR optical display solution and will be officially launched in Q2 2025. It is reported that the fluorescent light engine is currently the smallest color light engine in the industry. It is independently developed and produced by Thunderbird Innovation. The product will be produced at the Thunderbird RayNeo Jiaxing factory.

It is understood that this Thunderbird V3 AI shooting glasses will be used in what is called the "Technology Spring Festival Gala"It will be unveiled at "CES 2025". In addition to Thunderbird Innovation, players such as Shanji Technology, XRreal, ROKID, and Play Dreams also participated in CES2025, and many products were connected to large models.

Among them, XREAL Air 2 Ultra combines AI large models and 6DoF spatial positioning capabilities. Through gesture control, viewers can generate and operate virtual objects in real time.

Shanji AI camera supports Yuntian Lifei, Wen Xin Yi Yan, iFlytek Spark, Byte Doubao, Tongyi Qianwen, Tencent Hunyuan, Kimi, Zhipu, SenseTime, MiniMax, etc. Supports access to dozens of large models, as well as access to private AI models. A reporter from the "Kechuangban Daily" learned that its overseas version will select large foreign models based on local needs.

“Because each country and region is different, we have equipped servers and compliant data models that are fully in line with the local country. We are a global enterprise and ensure global data compliance and security.” Flash Zhang Bo, founder of Ji Technology, told the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily in an interview.

Rokid Glasses’ AR glasses are connected to Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen large model and have a built-in AI assistant that supports making and receiving calls, AI question and answer search, AI object recognition, AI taking photos and answering questions, and AI Multilingual translation, AI navigation, AI translation, AI health reminder and other functions. This product is also connected to the "AI Life Butler" Zhi Xiaobao, introducing AI services, voiceprint payment and other capabilities. In the future, through Rokid Glasses, users can summon Zhi Xiaobao with voice and let AI help you order food or hail a taxi. A reporter from "Kechuangban Daily" learned that the overseas version of Rokid Glasses will also use foreign models for adaptation, and the specific cooperation has not yet been disclosed.

Play Dream MR realizes an intelligent assistant by accessing a large AI model, which can realize AI search, text translation, music creation and other functions, and supports voice wake-up, voice control, and life housekeeping functions.

Inmo AIR3 and INMO GO2, two smart glasses products of Yingmu Technology, are connected to the AI ​​​​big voice model and can achieve simultaneous interpretation.

▌Enter overseas markets

In addition to the domestic market, many smart glasses manufacturers intend to develop their efforts in overseas markets and expand their business territory .

XREAL’s products have entered the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and other countries, and have begun to enter emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It has also established strategic cooperation with Google.

“There are many challenges in the process of globalization. Different markets have very different understandings and needs for AR technology. Educating users and building an ecosystem is a long-term project. This is also the direction we need to continue to work hard in 2025. . Local adaptation will become our key strategy in the international market. We plan to accelerate the adoption of AR technology in markets such as Japan and South Korea.Localization process to enhance product market fit. In addition, we will also strengthen the supply chain by optimizing collaboration with local partners to reduce the risk of external policy changes and ensure stable operations in an uncertain environment. Strategic cooperation remains an important basis for our stable development in a complex global environment. Despite the uncertain market situation, we will continue to promote cooperation with global technology platforms, especially in-depth collaboration with global giants such as Google. " said Xu Chi, founder of /p>

"Next, it will be fully announced overseas. For these glasses, we have established a European sales team and local branches to fully lay out European offline glasses channels and create our full online and offline chain. Glasses are a relatively segmented market, with hundreds of brands at the head. We can gradually make this piece of cake bigger, so the space in this piece is larger. ” Zhang Bo, founder of Shanji Technology, said.

▌Large model floor-standing AI glasses are still in the early stages of development

For large-scale models The progress of model-based AI glasses, IDC China senior analyst Yang Wen said, is still in the early stages of development. “Although there are products released, most of the functions are concentrated in low-frequency simple scenarios such as daily question and answer, and users are low in willingness to pay for pure AI functions. ”

At present, the AI ​​glasses market is in a state of competition. According to incomplete statistics, there will be nearly 40 manufacturers of AI glasses that have publicly disclosed or been disclosed to enter the market in 2024. (including overseas), the number of products is expected to exceed 50. However, Yang Wen believes that the overall product functions are highly homogeneous, and most devices have not been delivered as expected, and there are still many deficiencies in hardware performance and wearing experience, and there is huge room for optimization. .

In Yang Wen’s view, the technological maturity of combining large models with AI glasses is increasing. However, the market has just begun to build an application ecosystem for large model capabilities. She believes that AI glasses, as one of the important terminal applications for the implementation of large models, will officially usher in a development period in 2025. The application scenarios of AI glasses will continue to expand. The consumer market extends to medical, industrial and other industries, becoming a multi-scenario intelligent interactive tool . In the future, large-model AI hardware will focus more on sceneization and customization to meet the diverse and personalized needs of users.

According to IDC, the global AI glasses market shipments will reach 12.8 million in 2025. A year-on-year growth of 26%, with a five-year compound growth rate of 30% by 2028; China A I glasses market shipments reached 2.8 million, a year-on-year growth of 107%, with a five-year compound growth rate of 58% to 2028. Pan Xuefei, research director of IDC China, believes that smart glasses without display functions will It has ignited the market’s confidence in head-mounted devices, and the cost and technology of AR/VR devices haveIn a period when the market is still immature, this combination of camera + audio + AI glasses into smart glasses can promote the head-mounted device to re-enter the public view in a more people-friendly form, becoming an important pavement for the future development of AR/VR equipment.

Pan Xuefei judged that in the future, smart glasses equipped with cameras or audio will drive the faster implementation of AI functions in head-mounted devices, and will usher in faster development in the short term. The accumulation of large AI models in speech and image recognition will promote AI to present more practical and cost-effective application scenarios on smart glasses. However, the current experience of smart glasses in multi-modal interaction such as voice and image still needs to be improved. . With the technological development of key components such as AR/VR chips, camera modules and display solutions, the cost of AI glasses will further drop, providing manufacturers with more pricing space, thus promoting products to accelerate their entry into the consumer market

In addition , the human-computer interaction of AI glasses will expand more innovations in input methods and incorporate more wearable device forms into its ecosystem.

“The development of the AR/VR market has always occupied more costs and resources in display solutions; the eye tracking capabilities of Apple Vision Pro in 2024 and the combination of Meta Rayban camera image recognition and AI will The method and experience of human-computer interaction input of AI glasses have once again become important, and the diversification of input methods will also greatly affect the positioning of AI glasses in the smart terminal ecosystem in the future," Pan Xuefei mentioned.

The ultimate goal of AI glasses development is still AR/VR head-mounted display devices, but smart glasses provide major players in the market with development path options that are more conducive to commercialization. Pan Xuefei believes that dual-line development On the one hand, manufacturers have more practical business models to explore, and on the other hand, it also provides a sufficient time window for the development of AR/VR.