Xiaomi Unveils Slick Wireless AR Glasses Concept

(Credit: Xiaomi) There’s a consensus amongst tech folks that augmented and virtual reality would catch on if the headsets were more comfortable. So far, all we’ve had, aside from a few flash-in-the-pan concepts, are big, bulky headsets. Nobody wants to wear those all day, nor could they, as battery life becomes an issue. The thinking goes that a pair of lightweight augmented reality (AR) glasses could be the next big thing in computing.

Google famously tried this with Google Glass. Now Xiaomi has officially unveiled the Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Although Xiaomi describes them as “lightweight yet sturdy,” they look pretty beefy. They weigh 4.4 ounces (126 grams), Engadget reports, which is way lighter than a virtual reality headset. For context, the all-new and quite slim HTC Vive Elite XR weighs 1.4 pounds (625 grams)–still a weight that would make them very noticeable.

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

Xiaomi’s glasses are packed with advanced technology. They sport two Micro OLED displays that Xiaomi says can hit 1,200nits of peak brightness. In front of those displays are “free form, light-guiding” prisms that offer “near retina” resolution. There are also electrochromic lenses in use that can change their tint. This allows for two modes; immersed or transparent. In Immersed mode, you’re shut off from the world as the glasses darken. In transparent mode, you can interact with your surroundings with AR gestures. The glasses are powered by the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 SoC, which also powers the Meta Quest Pro.

You’ll need a phone to do all of this, of course. Xiaomi says it syncs with the phone with a single tap using NFC. This is what allows it to be a wireless headset. The glasses also don’t have any storage, so they rely on the phone for that. The battery is a custom silicon-oxygen anode model, but it’s unclear how many hours of operation it provides. The weight of the lenses is offset by what sounds like very light frames. They’re made of a magnesium-lithium alloy structure and “carbon fiber materials.”

You can see the gestures in the video above, but they don’t look particularly useful. The demo says you can place virtual objects anywhere in your space. You can also drag and zoom freely using your fingers. Additionally, you can flip through a social media feed by flipping your fingers like you’re holding a phone. One useful feature is that you can drag what’s on TV into the glasses. However, it might be more high-res on your TV, but that’s just a guess.

There’s no word on whether these will ever go on sale or what they will cost. As a concept, it might never see the light of day. For any AR glasses to work, they need to be as powerful as possible, with all-day battery life, plenty of storage, and no lighter than a pair of reading glasses. Unfortunately, it could be at least a decade before we see something with those features. This is also not the first time Xiaomi has shown off a cutting-edge concept involving AR glasses. In 2021, it demoed a pair of very light AR glasses weighing only 1.8 ounces (51 grams). For most people, it’s not hard to see how compelling these devices could be someday. Sadly, that day is still far in the future.

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