The future is already here. Although augmented reality has not yet been the expected bombshell, manufacturers such as Xiaomi continue to bet on a future that mixes the digital world with the real one. Now, the Chinese company has presented its first augmented reality glasses, the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition.
Much has been said about Apple’s future glasses, Meta’s experiments with RayBan or the famous Google Glass. Xiaomi, however, has made a splash with its own “vision” of what would be called mixed reality.
A resolution that the human eye cannot distinguish: this is how Xiaomi glasses look
The Chinese company has taken advantage of the 2023 Mobile World Congress to present a fairly functional prototype to tell the truth. One of the main problems in the field of mixed reality glasses (and also in virtual ones) has been the resolution. However, Xiaomi seems to have come up with a solution.
The resolution of these glasses is measured in PPD, or in other words, the number of pixels per viewing angle (Pixels Per Degree). In this case, the glasses promise to achieve a degree similar to that of human vision. The limit of our vision is 60 PPD and according to Xiaomi, the glasses reach 58 PPD.
To make this possible, it has two microLED displays that have a maximum brightness per eye of 1,200 nits. The lenses also feature electrochromic technology, which means that they can vary in color depending on the electric current. Thanks to this, the glasses can switch to an absolute immersion mode and become opaque. As a result, they can also be converted into a virtual reality viewer like the Meta Quest 2, for example.
A processor and design that is “futuristic” to say the least.
Inside we find a Snapdragon XR 2 Gen 1 processor, which is based on the Snapdragon Spaces XR platform and is capable of running mobile apps. As with other similar glasses, Xiaomi’s glasses will be able to connect to your phone and thus, take full advantage of its capabilities.
They are currently compatible with the latest Xiaomi terminals (Series 13) and also the OnePlus 11. In addition, pairing them with the glasses is very simple: we will only have to make use of NFC and bring the cell phone to the temple of the glasses. Xiaomi explains that we can interact with applications through gestures and even treat them as if they were real objects.
The latency of the glasses has been reduced to 50 milliseconds, so in theory, you will be able to play your mobile content on the glasses in real time.
In terms of design, we find a form factor similar to that of other glasses such as Microsoft HoloLens. It is a comfortable prototype despite its large size and incorporates a black band at the top where we find all the sensors.
Of course, Xiaomi has shown us the way ahead regarding mixed reality and its possibilities. For the moment it is still a prototype, but who knows if the next few years we will see this technology in a more standardized way.
