Say goodbye to physical screens and get a pair of glasses for office, entertainment, and social interaction. How far are we from the era of universal AR?

This article is the 690th original work of Deep Diving Atom

2023 is definitely the first year of AR. At this year's Apple Developer Conference, Cook brought Apple AR glasses Apple Vision Pro to everyone, and announced that "Apple Vision Pro will take us into the era of mobile computing"; and for the first time since 2022, consumer-level AR products will surpass enterprise-level After product sales, we learned from the official AR glasses brand XREAL (formerly Nreal) that as of August 20 this year, a total of 200,000 units of AR glasses have been sold globally, and 100,000 units of accessories have been sold; at the 2023 MWC Shanghai World, which opened at the end of June this year At the Mobile Communications Conference, XREAL brought its AR space screen, XREAL Air and new hardware product XREAL Beam to the conference, attracting countless audiences...

There are theories that smart phones in the future may be replaced by AR glasses, which will penetrate more into people's living scenes and lifestyles, creating a wearable virtual and reality perfect integration world. Therefore, many domestic start-up AR brands and consumer electronics giants are also working on the AR glasses track, actively exploring domestic and foreign markets, and have an All-in attitude.

01

Breaking the dimensional wall between the virtual and real worlds, the prospect of AR is very attractive

With the release of Apple Vision Pro, AR has set off a huge wave of discussion around the world. For a long time, many people have not had enough understanding of what AR devices can do. But after the release of Apple Vision Pro, everything changed. "AR" became a hot term, and more and more consumers expressed their interest in AR devices. Industry insiders also have great praise for Apple’s Apple Vision Pro, calling it a highly disruptive product that elevates the 2D Internet world to a 3D level.

The release of Apple’s Apple Vision Pro has also pushed consumer-grade AR devices to a position of higher exposure, and the prospects of the AR industry are increasingly optimistic by the industry. Nowadays, the Internet industry has already realized the transformation from broad development to in-depth development, and the logic of human-computer interaction is also undergoing profound changes. The emergence of AR devices is not only "cool" and "sci-fi", it also brings new possibilities to people's production, social interaction, and entertainment methods.

In fact, long before Apple’s Apple Vision Pro, in 2012, Google Glass used AR technology for the first time, which could push important information to the wearer’s eyes like a scene in a science fiction movie. Google claims that you can use this glasses to upload photos, make video calls, process emails, check weather and road conditions, etc.

However, when this hardware product that attracted widespread attention was launched on the market in April 2013, it did not ignite consumer enthusiasm. In addition to the high price of US$1,500 that has successfully dissuaded many people who want to try it out, the experience of Google Glass that is far from what it advertises has also disappointed many consumers. Heat generation, short battery life, and the lack of "hot" applications are all reasons why Google Glass has not become popular. With the technical level at the time, the imperfections of Google Glass in terms of hardware and user experience will be difficult to solve in the short term. , which also determines that its cost is difficult to control.

Although Google Glass is an epoch-making product, due to the immature AR technology at that time, Google had no choice but to cancel the Google Glass project in early 2015. However,

With the development of the AR industry and the popularity of the concept of the metaverse, the previously rumored argument that "2022 will be the first year of domestic consumer-grade AR glasses" has become a reality

. With such a bright prospect, we can’t help but think more – what are the advanced ways to play AR? In fact, in this regard, XREAL, which released the first consumer-oriented AR glasses in 2019, already has a definite answer.

02

Let AR do more, head players do this

Weng Zhongming, associate professor at the School of Software, School of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin University, believes that “User experience is one of the important factors in whether AR glasses can successfully reach consumer users. The final experience of AR glasses is also Reflected in its functionality, domestic AR glasses currently generally use touch, designated gestures and the interaction method of operating mobile phone supporting apps, and users cannot completely free their hands. Without these, it is difficult to achieve a qualitative improvement in user experience. ”

Therefore, what kind of technical route to choose and how to differentiate from other products have become the key points for manufacturers to win. This is also a crucial step in creating AR glasses that satisfy the user experience.

Regarding the thinking about the final form of AR glasses, there may be "a thousand understandings" in the industry. Just like Apple, Apple Vision Pro has introduced two development directions for VR/AR. One is high standards and high resolution in display, and the other is using hand gestures to interact with the controller.

And precisely because Apple pursues to provide users with a variety of high-freedom interaction methods, it increases the weight of the device by stacking materials in exchange for powerful functions. But for consumers, if AR glasses don’t look like glasses, it will be difficult for users to accept them quickly and popularize them on a large scale.

The starting point of XREAL is "subtraction", which not only makes the device more compact and convenient, but also effectively controls the price. At the same time, the functions can also achieve 80% of Apple. Xu Chi, founder and CEO of and affordable prices will be easier for consumers to accept. Xu Chi judged that these two types of products will coexist for a long time.

Balancing product performance and weight is a great test for AR manufacturers’ technical strength. Take headphones as an analogy. From the beginning of bulky handheld headphones to hanging headphones to head-mounted wired headphones, the most widely used nowadays are wireless Bluetooth headphones. This is a process from complex to lightweight, and your hands are gradually freed. .

From a consumer perspective, the expectation for AR glasses is a new generation of mobile computing devices, rather than a simple display device. This requires that it must be able to provide a rich functional experience. In other words, it must have strong technical hard power and content soft power.

Simplify the complex, AR glasses actually do three things, display, calculate, and interact. In terms of display, mobile phones, computers and other devices are all physical screens, and the displayed content is only a two-dimensional effect on a plane. AR uses optical principles to display a 3D effect, allowing the screen to be kept in front of your eyes for a long time. Wear and use. Computing is to convert the 3D environment perceived by people into information and transfer it to the terminal device with as little delay as possible. Interaction is the combination with people. For example, by sensing gestures, you can understand people's intentions, thus bringing a better operating experience.

In terms of content, AR is most widely used on the consumer side in entertainment scenarios. How to gradually expand to other scenarios, such as education, medical care, and the hottest field of smart cars, may become the winner in the battle for AR glasses. Ace, when the technology develops to a certain stage, from the perspective of the entire track, the content ecology will determine whether it can snatch user time from smartphones, or even completely replace mobile phones, enable and lead the next generation of human-computer interaction; and from the perspective of enterprise competition Speaking of which, the importance of Apple’s App Store is self-evident.

03

Focus on the future, the power of AR has no upper limit

Xu Chi once said in an exclusive interview with the media, "In the future, AR and VR will be something that we will wear as long as we are awake.

We used to say that wearing glasses is to see the real physical world clearly. In the future We wear AR glasses because we want to see the world where digital and reality are mixed. " Judging from the current situation, the emergence of this scene is already around the corner. Because judging from the current technological development trends, new concepts including the metaverse, collaborative office, borderless employees, immersive games, smart travel and other concepts are constantly being implemented and improved. The realization of these concepts requires people to need new people. interact with computer interactive tools.

To this end, XREAL is also constantly focusing on future needs and upgrading and iterating its own products. Since 2019, XREAL has been continuously building and polishing its own supply chain and production lines. Currently, XREAL already has the world’s first and only fully automated AR optical production line. At the same time, XREAL has also preceded Apple has created a more user-friendly gesture interaction concept. It is worth mentioning that XREAL's exploration in the field of productivity has also made outstanding achievements - the world's first AR notebook created by XREAL has been launched. It has no screen and works directly through AR glasses. Greatly expands the scope of computer use.

In the foreseeable future, XREAL’s devices will not only continue to focus on the social and entertainment attributes of AR devices, but also believe that it can create a different kind of experience in the field of productivity. For example, we can use AR glasses to carry out huge tasks anytime and anywhere. The workbench allows you to do high-intensity work in front of three or five screens even in a coffee shop just like in an office. Another example is when we drive a vehicle, as long as we wear AR glasses, no matter how old the interior is or how simple the function is, the old car can also have a highly information-based and technological smart large screen and car system with the help of the AR system. , allowing us to experience the experience of "all the screens in front of us and all the parameters around us" like a fighter pilot.

Of course, we can also imagine such a scenario. In the operating room, AR equipment can help and guide doctors to complete their work more accurately and efficiently; at construction sites, engineers and construction workers can use AR equipment to concretely arrange operations. , adjustment plan; on the battlefield, commanders and soldiers can use AR equipment to complete battlefield situation analysis, identification of friend and foe, coordinated operations, battlefield rescue, etc. It can be said that the scope of application of AR equipment is unlimited. It gives people the extension of vision and allows the human eye to obtain more massive information, and what XREAL is doing is to realize these wishes one by one. Realization, final implementation.

04

Write at the end

It has been 20 years since the concept of AR technology was first proposed. In these 20 years, the electronic devices in our hands have developed by leaps and bounds. Today, there are more and more modes of human-computer interaction, but they are essentially inseparable from the help of physical display screens. I believe that with the popularization of AR devices, the communication between people and electronic devices and people in the virtual world will open a new chapter. We also believe that with the efforts of manufacturers such as XREAL and Apple, people’s digital lives will undergo earth-shaking changes.

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