Barcelona, Spain – Xiaomi took the wraps off a pair of prototype augmented reality glasses on Monday as the Chinese technology giant looks to sell more products beyond smartphones.
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The device is said to be the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glasses Discovery Edition. Augmented reality refers to digital media that can be superimposed on the real world that a person sees in front of them.
Xiaomi said the glasses are just a concept technology and will not be on sale yet. However, the announcement at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the largest mobile industry trade show in the world, highlights its ambition to enter the space.
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If Xiaomi officially launches the product, it will join the likes Microsoft’s HoloLens and Google Glass Enterprise as AR products in the market.
including technology giants Google, Microsoft And Apple Interested in augmented or mixed reality as a way to bring new experiences to consumers. Technology is often described as an important part of the idea of the “metaverse”.
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“I think AR is a profound technology that will impact everything,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said last year.
Apple has not officially acknowledged or launched any type of virtual or augmented reality headset.
Bloomberg reported this year that Apple would unveil its Mixed Reality headset this spring, with consumer deliveries set to begin in 2023.
“It’s a widespread view in the technology industry that AR smart glasses could be the next major form of mobile computing after smartphones,” CCS Insight analyst Leo Gabby told CNBC via email.
gesture control
Xiaomi said its AR glasses are lightweight and connect wirelessly to smartphones. Xiaomi also said that the device offers a “retina-level display” so that users can see virtual objects clearly as if they were a physical object.
The Beijing, China-headquartered firm also said that headset wearers can use gesture controls to complete tasks. Users would raise their hands in front of the glasses and then move their hands and fingers in specific ways to execute a function. For example, Xiaomi said that “the thumb slide on the index finger is used to enter and exit applications.”
The idea is that it could eliminate the need for you to touch your smartphone.
“Interactions like this show a direction Xiaomi believes human-computer interaction will take in the future,” the company said.
The company said the headset will work with its Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro, its flagship smartphones launched globally on Sunday.
Xiaomi, one of the world’s biggest smartphone players, is looking to unlock revenue from other devices. Over the years, the company has launched all kinds of devices from TVs to electric scooters.
“Xiaomi’s new AR glasses feel more like a stake in the ground than a meaningful product launch,” Gabby said. Chinese rivals including Oppo and TCL have also shown AR devices and it’s clear no one wants to be left behind. “
