Today, Chinese augmented reality (AR) wearables manufacturer Nreal announced the launch of its Air brand of smart glasses in the UK in partnership with British telecoms giant EE.
EE confirms that the Nreal Air product will launch in spring this year, but has not established a price or specific availability date, although in February, the Nreal Air hardware debuted in Japan for roughly $345 USD, according to a marketplace listing by KDDI.
EE claims that 35 percent of the UK general public has expressed interest in mobile methods of big-screen media streaming, a unique feature of Nreal Air smartglasses.
The product enables users to view virtual screens up to roughly 201 inches in size as part of a shared virtual watch party in a Metaverse-lite experience.
Additionally, the Air integrates 5G technology to enhance streaming abilities for the hardware and also connects to a phone for accurate navigation, contains a 46-degree field of view, has a lightweight design, and protects users from long-term blue light exposure, among other features.
The Director of Devices and Partnerships at EE, Alistair Wilson, added,
“We’re working with the best content providers and the most innovative technology companies in the world to create entirely new experiences for our customers. When combined with the power of 5G, it really does open up new possibilities for seamless streaming and access to new types of content on the move – these are really exciting times for mobile”
The news comes after a research study led by the University of Bristol employed Nreal smart glasses and Microsoft software to create the PeopleLens, a head-mounted display (HMD) that facilitated communication for low-sighted children with spatial audio to read the names of individuals aloud when a child looks at them.
Nreal Debuts in the US
Last November, Nreal debuted its hardware lineup in the US following a complicated legal history that massively delayed the international availability of its’ products.
Unreal Engine parent company Epic Games filed a lawsuit against the Chinese firm, claiming that the trademarks ‘Nreal’ and ‘Unreal’ were visually similar and could confuse mutual business partners, although the US courts sided with Nreal, forcing Epic Games to pay all related court fees.
Following Nreal’s US debut, the firm became a publicly-traded company and netted approximately $100 million USD in extra funding to assist with global expansion.
Most recently, Nreal secured roughly $60 million USD last month in a Series C funding round led by the Alibaba Group, enabling the Chinese firm to accelerate its global expansion into new markets and support local Chinese growth and valuing the firm at around $200 million.
