Nreal is a Chinese company founded in 2017 that wants to democratize augmented reality and make it affordable for everyone. The award-winning startup has recently announced that it’s working on a cheaper, iOS-compatible and more compact version of its latest Light smart glasses.
The new Air mixed reality glasses feature a ready-to-wear design that should make them look like regular glasses, although they are far from that. Actually the aesthetic is quite similar to Facebook and Ray-Ban’s smart glasses, even though these don’t have an AR display.
The augmented reality technology is achieved thanks to a micro OLED display, which is powered by a phone through a tether cable.
Nreal Air glasses are quite similar to the previous Light glasses, but they still present variations. For example, the new glasses don’t have outward facing cameras that could map physical space around the wearer, which means they don’t feature spatial awareness or hand tracking features like the Light glasses did.
What they can do is display video and phone apps right in front of you, and you’ll be able to control them thanks to an app on your phone (something that was already possible with the previous product).
The Nreal Air are definitely lighter: they only weigh 77grams compared to the 106 grams of the Light glasses. And plus, they provide a much clearer image. Nreal’s upcoming launch is compatible with almost all Android devices, but also iPhones and iPads.
The new design is still not available and there haven’t been any comments regarding the price, although the company said it will cost “a fraction of the price” of its previous Nreal Light glasses 一that is USD $600.
The only thing we know for sure is that the new Air smart glasses will start shipping in December across Japan, China and South Korea.
