OPPO Air Glass: Assisted Reality glasses are coming in 2022
from Dominic Lux 
on December 14, 2021, 19:11 am | Write a comment | OPPO blog x TechnikNews - More
OPPO Air Glass, that's the name of OPPO's new Assisted Reality (aR) glasses. In this article I will explain in more detail what this can do.
On this year's Inno Day 2021 OPPO showed their "Air Glass" in detail. These glasses are not full-fledged augmented reality glasses, as was previously seen from OPPO. Air Glass is an "Assisted Reality" glasses. In other words, it throws useful information into your right eye in order not to be too distracted from everyday life.
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What makes the OPPO Air Glass so special?
The Air Glass is equipped with OPPO's self-developed "Spark Micro Proejector". This houses the modern micro-LED technology. The Air Glass is controlled with one of the four input options. Speech, head or hand movements, and touching the frame.
“OPPO has long been researching the possibilities of expanding the perception of reality (Extended Reality, XR). With Air Glass, we have developed a smart glass directly for end users for the first time ”.
- Levin Liu, OPPO Vice President and Head of the OPPO Research Institute
The Air Glass also looks very futuristic - and weighs just 30 grams.
Design inspired by nature
The concept of the Air Glass is based on a monocle with a waveguide design. The shape of the lens is somewhat reminiscent of the wings of a cicada. OPPO really wanted the Air Glass to be worn like conventional glasses. The main body, which also contains all the technology, was inspired by nature - according to the motto "slim and curved like a feather". The touch bar on the side should be reminiscent of a pen handle.
The Air Glass displays a very elegant and high-quality design here. (Image: OPPO Germany)
The lens is not round, as you may have noticed. Therefore, it should be more ergonomic and lighter. Incidentally, OPPO installs the on internal hardware Snapdragon Wear 4100. This is also used in the OPPO Watch 2.
With CNC (numerical computer control) the Air Glass could be given a very high quality design.
Suitable for daylight thanks to the Spark Micro ProJect
The OPPO Air Glass has the "Spark Micro Proejector" has enough reserves to present the information sharply and brightly even during the day. This is one of the most compact Proinjection systems in the industry. At just 0,5 cubic centimeters, it's roughly the size of a single coffee bean.
The CNC-milled metal housing should ensure heat dissipation and stability in everyday life. The Spark Micro Proejector can generate up to 3 million nits.
The diffraction waveguide supports two display options: 16-level gray levels and 256-level gray levels, with an average brightness of 1400 nits. Sapphire crystal rounds off the package and ensures adequate protection and improved transparency.
The Air Glass will be available in two formats. In a silver half-frame design (see photos) and a black full-frame design. The latter is for users who already wear glasses. Both versions are available in two different sizes.
Applications of the Air Glass
OPPO already includes a large number of pre-installed applications. This includes many self-developed apps such as weather, calendar, health and teleprompter.
The Air Glass is connected to an OPPO smartphone from ColorOS 11 or with an OPPO watch.
Here you can see what the view through the display of the Air Glass looks like. (Image: OPPO Germany)
I imagine the translation function to be very good for international meetings. Initially, however, only the translation from Chinese to English is supported.
One of the many possible uses would be, for example, as a telephotoprompter at a presentation. (Image: OPPO Germany)
As a further function, OPPO gives the Air Glass a telephotoprompter app. This can, for example, place floating text passages or notes in the user's eye so as not to lose sight of the audience when reading them.
Incidentally, OPPO is also working with third parties on apps for Air Glass. To this end, OPPO publishes the Air Glass SDK for developers to design and develop their own apps. Baidu (Chinese developer of navigation apps) was taken as an example - he has already adapted his apps “Baidu Walk & Bike Exploration” and “Explore Nearby” to the Air Glass.
Availability: Unfortunately not in Germany for the time being
The OPPO Air Glass will be available exclusively in mainland China in the first quarter of 2022 (for now). Available in black or white, the Glass comes bundled with the two frame accessories mentioned. A price is not yet known. But since it is a focus test in China to see if that ProIf the product is well received, we will probably have to wait a little longer before the Air Glass is available globally.
