BARCELONA – Oppo on Monday unveiled a prototype set of augmented actuality (AR) glasses with a voice assistant, underscoring how electronics giants are attempting to infuse synthetic intelligence throughout their merchandise to face out.

Oppo, a Chinese language agency and one of many world’s greatest smartphone makers, introduced the Oppo Air Glass 3 on the Cell World Congress in Barcelona.

They seem like an everyday pair of glasses with Oppo looking for a design that may be worn every single day as a companion to a smartphone. Since they’re AR glasses, customers can see digital content material imposed over the real-world view they see in entrance of them. This could possibly be info corresponding to a message or maybe a map for navigation.

The Air Glass 3 must be tethered to an Oppo smartphone. Customers can management the glasses with contact sensors on the facet of the body.

Oppo mentioned that its newest AR glasses are geared up with a voice assistant which is powered by the Chinese language tech big’s personal giant language mannequin (LLM) referred to as AndesGPT. LLMs are AI fashions skilled on an enormous quantity of information and underpin most of the chatbots, corresponding to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which have exploded in reputation over the previous 12 months and a half.

The voice assistant is at the moment solely out there in China, Oppo mentioned in a press launch. The chatbot is able to “performing info searches and conducting conversations to help customers in duties like planning journey,” Oppo mentioned.

This 12 months electronics makers are speaking up the best way AI options have been put into their merchandise amid an explosion in reputation and hype across the know-how. Oppo is without doubt one of the many tech corporations in China that has developed its personal LLM, alongside others like Alibaba and Baidu.

In the meantime, different smartphone makers exterior of China are counting on their very own AI fashions in a bid to deliver new experiences to units and stand out in a crowded sea of comparable handsets.

Digital actuality and augmented actuality have been spoke about by electronics makers for a number of years however have not exploded in reputation the best way many had thought. Tech corporations have taken completely different approaches. Apple launched the $3,500 Imaginative and prescient Professional this 12 months, a big however very superior AR headset. Meta by way of its Quest headsets has additionally chased the digital actuality market.

However there are numerous corporations who consider light-weight glasses would be the future as they are going to enable individuals to put on them every single day in a trendy method. Chinese language AR agency Xreal — which is backed by Alibaba — is a kind of corporations, together with Oppo, which has been investing in augmented actuality for a number of years.

Oppo mentioned in a press launch it believes that glasses are a “appropriate {hardware} service for AI because of its nature options corresponding to visible and voice interactions, to finally grow to be the most effective companions for smartphones in additional situations.” The glasses weigh simply 50 grams.

Because the glasses are only a prototype, it is unclear if Oppo plans to commercialize them. Oppo’s earlier Air Glass 2 was not offered to the general public.

However Oppo is attempting to indicate off its tech prowess in a promote it believes could possibly be massive sooner or later. Market analysis agency IDC had forecast simply 500,000 shipments of AR headsets in 2023, however believes that would rise to six.8 million in 2027.