We have taken a close look at Xiaomi's smart glasses. The future of augmented reality looks very, very good

Xiaomi has taken advantage of the Mobile World Congress 2023 framework not only to bring the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro to Spain to show us first-hand its augmented reality glasses. It is still a non-marketable concept, but it draws the lines of how Xiaomi understands part of this hopeful future full of artificial intelligence, augmented reality and more than capable wearables. These are the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition.

Image quality has to stop being a problem

One of the main challenges that augmented and virtual reality have faced in recent years has had to do with resolution. Xiaomi claims to have solved this challenge with its Wireless Air Glasses. These glasses have a resolution measured in PPD (Pixels per degree) or, in other words, the number of pixels that we appreciate throughout the entire viewing angle offered by the glasses.

These smart glasses promise a degree of sharpness similar to that of the human retina

This Xiaomi concept promises to work with 58 PPD. To put it in context, the Meta Quest Pro promises 22 PPD, less than half. The company tells us that this degree of high resolution is similar to that of human vision itself, so they promise a level of sharpness similar to that of our retina. It remains to be seen if the future model that reaches production will reach this figure, but the idea is unbeatable.

The lenses have electrochromic technology, so they can change color when electrical current is applied to them. This technology is used to activate an "immersive mode", in which the glasses become completely opaque.

Regarding the technology used in these glasses, it is MicroOLED, the same one that is currently being used in televisions of the highest range and the one that different companies are exploring as a generational replacement of OLED. At the brightness level, they promise the outrageous figure of 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

Xiaomi Wireless Ar Glass

At the design level, they are still a somewhat crude product, expecting a greater degree of refinement in production models. Despite this, the choice of materials is ambitious. We are talking about glasses made of a magnesium and lithium alloy, with certain carbon fiber finishes. The goal is to achieve a weight of only 126 grams. The main point here is that wearing these glasses is not much heavier than a traditional frame, despite the implementation of batteries and sensors inside.

Inside this body we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 chip, the same beast that devices like the Meta Quest Pro mount. It is noteworthy that, to power this set, Xiaomi has opted for a battery with a siloxygen anode. This material, according to the company, allows the battery to be especially light.

Let's talk about the user experience

img 3413At the moment, we do not have much information about the connected ecosystem from which these glasses will drink. Xiaomi promises minimal latency when connecting to the phone (less than 3 milliseconds), and they connect to the phone via NFC, not Bluetooth. To control them, a system of gestures (slides, pincer, etc.) has been developed, which allow us to move around the interface.

In this demo, they have shown us through a Xiaomi 13 the low latency that they have at stake with augmented reality. Just a small sample of the potential when working in combination with a high-end smartphone. The response time is practically immediate. Beyond this, the possibilities are much broader: augmented reality applications, viewing of high-resolution multimedia content, etc.

In short, a concept that we will not be able to buy at the moment, but that brings us closer to a not too distant future in which Xiaomi wants to compete in augmented reality from the front line.

xataka.com