Chinese tech firm Xiaomi held its MWC 2023 showcase in Barcelona earlier this week where it unveiled the third iteration of its augmented reality (AR) glasses called the Xiaomi AR Glass Discovery Edition.
Xiaomi’s newest AR glasses aren’t yet available to purchase, but the launch video gave us a look at a refined prototype.
Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun took to Twitter to say that the company’s new AR Glasses are, “Boasting a retina-level near-eye display for AR glasses,” adding that they, “Deliver a truly immersive visual experience. Moreover, our self-developed Xiaomi AR Gesture Control empowers effortless control between virtual and real space.”
Boasting a retina-level near-eye display for AR glasses, Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition delivers a truly immersive visual experience. Moreover, our self-developed Xiaomi AR Gesture Control empowers effortless control between virtual and real space. pic.twitter.com/EipqBWxkpW
— Lei Jun (@leijun) February 27, 2023
The new AR glasses come with electrochromic lenses that’ll allow users to turn the glass black. That way, they can shut out the outside world and completely immerse themselves in virtual content.
XDA reported that Xiaomi’s Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition does not have any onboard storage and will need to be connected to a host device through a ‘proprietary low-latency communication link’ which is a combination of WiFi and Bluetooth.
However, the AR Glass Discovery Edition does come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen1 chip that powers all of its features including a one-touch tap to connect it to your mobile device.
Behind the lenses are a pair of Micro-OLED screens that run on a ‘self-developed silicon-oxygen anode battery’ of unspecified capacity. The AR glasses weigh 126g, thanks to lightweight manufacturing materials like carbon fibre and magnesium alloy.
The promo video of the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition also seemingly works how we’d imagine AR glasses to work. It has gesture controls that allow users to move and even resize windows of what appears to be a virtual desktop, transfer what is showing on a compatible TV to the AR glasses and interact with other compatible IoT (Internet of Things) items like nearby smart lights.
This is Xiaomi’s third publicly announced prototype for AR glasses as it aims to, “Redefine the boundary between virtual and reality through innovation.”
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
