In-Depth Analysis: The Battle of AI Glasses – How to Emerge Victorious?

Introduction

The AI glasses market is currently witnessing a fierce competition, often referred to as the "Battle of a Hundred Mirrors." This article aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the key factors that will determine the success of AI glasses in this highly competitive landscape. We will delve into market competition, functional scenarios, operating systems, the significance of AI, interaction methods, display technology, and the glasses themselves.

Market Competition Landscape

Revisiting the "Impossible Triangle" of AI Glasses

The concept of the "Impossible Triangle" in AR glasses, which refers to the trade-offs between performance, battery life, and user experience, still holds true for AI glasses. While it is relatively easy for companies with basic hardware capabilities to produce AI glasses, the real challenge lies in achieving a balance between these three aspects.

• Performance: AI glasses need to have sufficient computational power to handle data distribution, reception, decompression, and local interaction.

• Battery Life: Currently, battery life remains a significant issue. For instance, Rayban Meta can only record videos for half an hour on a full charge, which is far from sufficient for all-day use.

• User Experience: The weight of AI glasses should ideally be between 35-50 grams to ensure a comfortable wearing experience.

The industry goal is to develop small-sized components that can provide excellent sensor performance and battery life while maintaining a lightweight design.

Who Will Emerge Victorious in the Battle of a Hundred Mirrors?

The competition in the AI glasses market is multi-dimensional. The core of AI glasses lies in the integration of smartphones and large language models (LLMs). Companies can be categorized into three types:

1. Smart Hardware Startups: These companies have experience in hardware development but lack resources to create极致 (ultimate) products and do not have their own LLMs or smartphones.

2. LLM and Internet Companies: These companies possess LLMs but lack hardware experience. They need to rely on supply chains to develop AI glasses. Their advantage lies in the synergy between AI glasses and LLMs.

3. Smartphone Companies: These companies have their own smartphones and end-side LLMs, making them well-suited to develop general-purpose AI glasses. However, they may lack cloud-based LLMs or have ones that are not as effective.

The ideal AI glasses brand should have its own smartphone, end-side small models, cloud-based multimodal LLMs, glasses OS capabilities, and IoT ecosystem.

Functional Scenarios

Beyond Rayban Meta's Features

To achieve mass adoption, AI glasses need to offer more than just camera functions, music playback, calls, and AI voice queries. The functionality of AI glasses can be divided into two categories based on whether they have a display module.

• AI Glasses Without a Display Module: These glasses rely on cameras and microphones to generate content, such as longer video recording, Live Photos, and continuous image capture. However, their output is limited to auditory feedback, which may not be suitable for functions that are typically visual, such as notifications, translations, and navigation.

• AI Glasses With a Display Module: These glasses have a visual feedback channel, allowing for a wider range of functions, including悬浮通知 (floating notifications), text translation, teleprompting, voice queries, and component interaction. The addition of a display module significantly enhances the user experience and opens up new possibilities for native visual content.

The Operating System (OS) of AI Glasses

AI Glasses as Smartphone Accessories

AI glasses are essentially accessories to smartphones. The OS of AI glasses is more similar to watchOS or wearOS. The connection between AI glasses and smartphones can be through proprietary chips and protocols (like MFI) or through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

• Data Flow Between Glasses and Smartphone: The OS of AI glasses should focus on displaying and interacting with the most front-end and shallow interaction interfaces of the smartphone, such as Activity views, Notifications, Widgets, LockScreen, Status bar, and Shortcuts.

• Integration with AI: The OS should leverage AI to process multi-modal data from the glasses (IMU, voice, image) and combine it with the context on the smartphone to provide relevant feedback to the user.

Interaction Methods

Ideal Interaction for AI Glasses

The ideal interaction time for AI glasses should be within 5 seconds, as the current interaction methods are not very convenient. The introduction of eye-tracking and micro-gestures may improve interaction, but the extent depends on the field of view (FOV) and color fidelity of the display.

• Micro-Gestures: Hand micro-gestures should be the primary interaction mode, allowing users to place their hands in relatively free positions, such as by their side, in their pocket, or on their thigh, while still being able to interact with the glasses.

• Eye-Tracking (Gaze): Eye-tracking is crucial for closing the interaction loop. However, it faces challenges in miniaturization, interaction precision, and adaptability to different glasses designs.

Display Technology

The Necessity of Display in AI Glasses

AI glasses will inevitably incorporate display functions. The choice of display technology depends on its maturity and feasibility for integration into glasses.

• Monochrome Displays: Currently, monochrome waveguide technology is relatively mature, but it lacks familiarity for users, especially for notifications.

• Color Displays: Color displays are in the early stages of adoption. In the next two years, we may see low-cost, low-experience color single-eye displays and high-cost, high-experience color dual-eye displays.

The Glasses Themselves

How Close Should AI Glasses Be to Traditional Glasses?

AI glasses should aim to be as close to traditional glasses in terms of weight, appearance, and wearing experience. However, due to the presence of components, AI glasses will always have some weight and thickness.

• Wearing Experience: The key is the "willingness to wear" within a limited time. The longer users are willing to wear the glasses, the more scenes they can penetrate, and the higher the product value.

• Appearance: The appearance of AI glasses should not deviate too far from traditional glasses to ensure user acceptance. The design should align with the emotional value of traditional glasses, such as fashion and status.

Conclusion

The AI glasses market is highly competitive, and success will depend on a combination of factors, including technical capabilities, user experience, and market strategy. Companies that can balance performance, battery life, and user experience while leveraging AI and innovative interaction methods will have a better chance of emerging victorious in the "Battle of a Hundred Mirrors." The focus should be on understanding user needs, developing a clear product logic, and creating AI glasses that are not only functional but also comfortable and stylish.