Augmented reality glasses instead of smartphones
Smartphones as we know them today will no longer exist in the foreseeable future. The new era of devices was heralded some time ago: smartglasses, also known as augmented reality glasses, are on the rise. Smartglasses technology is already running parallel to smartphone technology until it could one day replace it completely. At the moment, augmented reality glasses are almost only used by companies and developers – they are still too expensive for the mass market and lack some user-friendliness. Now the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has developed the first prototype of augmented reality glasses, which will be offered alongside 5G smartphones, smartwatches and headphones in the future. Vivo has thus entered the consumer smartglasses market. Augmented reality glasses are gaining popularity and spreading rapidly. Does this mean the imminent death of smartphones? We show you the pros and cons of the new Vivo glasses.
The revolution through augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is no longer just hype, but is used in numerous business cases. Tech giants such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and others are investing billions in this technology for good reason. AR is augmented reality – computer-aided perception that expands the real world to include virtual objects. So if you look at the display of your smartphone or put on augmented reality glasses, you can perceive virtual elements in your environment and often even interact with them. Compared to virtual reality, where you are completely immersed in the virtual world, with augmented reality you can still see your real surroundings as well as virtual elements. If you would like to find out more about the use cases in which augmented reality is already being used, the blog post “Augmented reality is hotly debated” will give you an up-to-date overview. Now, however, we will be looking specifically at the AR glasses Vivo AR Glass, which could replace smartphones in the future. We will show you their advantages and disadvantages.
Vivo AR Glass
Vivo, whose only product line includes smartphones, might be worried about the premature announcement that smartphones will soon be dead with the advent of augmented reality glasses. In order to avoid the worry lines and keep the company economically stable in the future, Vivo has wisely developed its own AR glasses. The first prototype was presented as “Vivo AR Glass” at the Shanghai Mobile World Congress at the end of June 2019. It is not yet known when the AR glasses will go on sale.
The Vivo AR Glass can be connected to the Vivo NEX 5G smartphone for a unique experience. The glasses are relatively lightweight and equipped with two displays. It also offers six degrees of freedom – meaning that it recognizes when you move along the X, Y and Z axes, as well as when you turn on your own axis. The image below shows the directions in which you can move so that the augmented reality glasses recognize and record this. Thanks to two integrated cameras, the AR glasses record the spatial position of the wearer.
Vivo does not reveal how far the field of vision of its augmented reality glasses extends or what type of display it has. Apparently, there are also no built-in depth sensors that would enable precise 3D mapping of the surroundings. Until now, Microsoft’s HoloLens has been the ultimate in AR glasses. However, the development of Vivo’s AR Glass shows that the competition is not sleeping – new players can quickly enter the market and drive the technology forward.
The prototype of the Vivo AR Glass AR glasses currently has five types of applications for which app developers can program augmented reality apps:
- Gaming
- Mobile office
- 3D videos
- Face recognition
- Object recognition
Vivo’s AR Glass recognizes objects and displays corresponding information. It can also memorize faces and shows who the person is and other information stored about the person. Vivo’s augmented reality glasses can also be used to stream 3D videos or play AR games.
Vivo has dared to take the step towards consumer smartglasses. However, the current prototype looks more like a HoloLens or similar AR glasses with a bulky design and is not really stylish. However, the Vivo AR Glass can display real augmented reality content and doesn’t just screen push notifications. The glasses do not currently work wirelessly. They have to be connected to a Vivo smartphone via a USB-C cable, which then takes over the entire computing power. Vivo still has a few improvements to make before these AR glasses are actually bought and worn by consumers. In our opinion, the wearing comfort of the Vivo AR Glass needs to be improved. They should be smaller and be able to be operated wirelessly in the future.
Nevertheless, Vivo has taken a step towards consumer smartglasses with the Vivo AR Glass. Although the current first model of the Vivo AR Glass is only a prototype, Vivo has announced that market-ready augmented reality glasses will be offered alongside 5G smartphones, smartwatches and headphones in the future. However, the price and release date have not yet been announced by Vivo. Based on all the built-in features, however, we estimate that the Vivo AR Glass will not cost less than CHF 1,000. If Vivo corrects the current shortcomings of its augmented reality glasses and expands the range of applications, the Vivo AR Glass could soon be the first alternative to smartphones.
If you are interested in virtual reality headsets in addition to augmented reality glasses from Vivo, you can find out more about the market-leading virtual reality headsets in the blog post “Virtual reality headsets in comparison“.
