Projector maker XGIMI has turned up at CES to launch its own range of AR glasses, but don’t get the champagne out too soon. MemoMind is a new brand under which its AI-infused eyewear will be sold, with two distinct units arriving at some point in the near future. The company says it has leveraged its know-how in optics and engineering to produce glasses which are unobtrusively light, all the better for blending into your daily life. Fashionistas will even be overjoyed to learn the glasses’ ship in eight different frame styles, five different temple designs and can be worn with prescription lenses.
Memo One is the company’s flagship option, with dual-eye displays and integrated speakers so you can see and hear your AI assistant. The Memo Air, meanwhile, is a more stripped down model weighing just 28.9 grams which just has a single eye display. Unfortunately, the company is using microLED displays rather than waveguides, making them a far harder sell for a lot of would-be users. After all, putting something that small so close to your eye but behind your prescription means it’s a painful experience for short sighted folks to focus on text. As I explained in my Halliday review, this technology is no friend to the glasses wearers who would otherwise be the ideal early adopters.
The glasses are just a vehicle for the company’s AI assistant, promising translation, summarization, note-taking, reminders and contextual guidance. Unlike some of its would-be rivals, XGIMI says its platform will switch between OpenAI, Azure and (Alibaba’s) Qwen depending on what it thinks will offer you the best result for each task. Naturally, we’ll need to get them in to test before passing final judgment on their qualities but, you can color us naturally hostile to those damn microLEDs until we’re convinced otherwise.
XGIMI says the flagship Memo One will be available to pre-order “soon,” priced at $599, with additional models available further down the line.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/xgimi-best-known-for-projectors-launches-its-own-smart-glasses-170000968.html?src=rss
