Nreal Air Smart Glasses to Hit Asian Markets

The Chinese augmented reality (AR) firm announces its streaming-focused media spectacles

2
Nreal Introduces Major Streaming-Focused Smartglasses
Augmented RealityReviews

Published: October 4, 2021

Rgreenerheadshot

Rory Greener

Chinese augmented reality (AR) manufacturer of smartglasses Nreal unveiled in late September its ‘Nreal Air‘ media-focused AR smartglasses.

The consumer-level wearables will launch in China, Japan, and South Korea in December and will hit global markets in the first quarter of 2022.

Media-Focused Augmented Reality

Nreal Air does not incorporate typical AR technologies such as motion tracking, but instead claims users can create virtual screens up to 201 inches in size to stream high-quality video content.

Nreal is also targeting the ‘AR-lite’ experience towards smart glass consumers who use the hardware to stream video content via supported applications such as Magenta or YouTube.

The Beijing-based firm is focusing its AR solution on data gathered from Nreal Light usage, where its design team omitted certain AR features to develop the final product.

To compare, Nreal’s flagship product ‘Light’ has a 52-degree field of view (FOV) and a 60Hz refresh rate, but the ‘Air’ has a lower 46-degree FOV and higher 90Hz refresh rate.

A Nreal representative said in a late-September statement to Engadget,

“People we know will use Nreal Air for simply watching shows on YouTube, streaming content on local streaming platforms based on Nreal Light’s usage, which is why the tradeoff makes sense”

The news comes as Nreal tackles issues related to fatigue from extended usage by reducing the weight of its wearables to 77 grams, compared to the Nreal Light, which weighs 107 grams.

The firm also looks to allow users to wear its Light smart glasses for a longer period of time while additionally offering a greater display for high-quality media streaming.

The spokesperson continued, adding,

“Those two would be the key features that were of paramount importance and the basis for how Nreal decided to strike a balance”

The news comes after the Chinese tech firm plans a massive Western expansion following a funding round worth roughly $100 million.

Chi Xu, Chief Executive of Nreal, said in a statement in late July that China was “definitely a huge market”, which the company planned to enter next year along with the US and additional countries.

 

 

AR Smart GlassesDesignWearablesWebAR
Featured

Share This Post