The Rokid AI + AR glasses is an exciting product that represent a new direction for wearable technology that can connected you to your surroundings like never before while being able to access information in an instant.
- RATING
Smartglasses are already a popular product but Rokid has launched the next generation of smart eyewear with AI and AR onboard along with dual micro LED displays to see information right before your eyes.
The tiny displays put information in front of you in bright green text whether it’s an answer to a question, navigational directions while you’re walking or a script within the teleprompter.
It’s like a wearable heads-up display.
The AI on board can be accessed with your voice and the answers are displayed in the lenses.
On the design side the Rokid glasses are black and basic and suitable for both men and women.
While we believe they won’t be winning any fashion awards, they are adequately stylish.
Onboard is a 12-megapixel camera as well as speakers in each arm.
The Rokid glasses can also be tailored to your prescription. Customers can purchase inserts that magnetically attach to the inside of the glasses.
Users can control and access the different features through swipes and taps on the right arm of the glasses.
The main menu brings up a series of icons representing the different features you can access, which include translation, camera, subtitles, teleprompter and music.
The onboard menu system is a bit clunky but still easy to use.
Users can also access the settings for brightness and volume in this section as well.
It doesn’t take long to get the hang of using the glasses through the gesture controls and the app is an excellent companion.
The glasses can be charged using a special magnetic cable and once fully charged it can last you the entire day depending on how often you are accessing the features on the move.
Once paired to your smartphone via the companion app, you’re able to access all the features.
First up it’s an impressive AI tool that allows you to ask questions and ask what you’re looking at through the camera.
For example we asked about the match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Newcastle Knights at the weekend and after a few seconds we told and shown the result.
And when we asked what we were looking at, a small target appeared so we could aim it at the object in question before the Rokid glasses provided the answer.
It was remarkably accurate too. At one point we held up a 3D-printed articulated Jabba the Hutt figure and it identified it correctly within seconds, right down to the articulation.
And it not only read back the answer but also wrote it out so we could read it on the mini displays.
But think of the other benefits of having a display that only you can read.
You can use the Rokid glasses as a teleprompter. Simply enter the text into the Rokid companion app and you’ll be able to read your script inside the glasses.
To others all they can see are the small rectangles where the internal screens are located and maybe a slight green tinge from the text you’re reading.
Another great use for the glasses is navigation while you’re walking or exploring a new city.
Enter your destination and you’ll be able to see directions hands-free inside the glasses.
No need to look down at your phone to see where you’re going. It’s all there literally right before your eyes.
One of the best features we found was voice translation. This would be ideal for travellers who can see live translation of what they are hearing in the lenses in real time.
The Rokid glasses can translate 89 different languages.
In the app users select the language that they’re hearing and the language they’d like it to be translated into.
In our case we chose Spanish to English and watched a Spanish podcast on YouTube and were able to understand what was being said in real time.
You can imagine how handy this would be on your travels, being able to talk to the locals and understand exactly what they’re saying on the spot.
A similar feature is subtitles which also has many uses.
We were impressed with how quickly this worked so we could imagine someone using this to literally see what someone’s saying.
We tried it watching TV and the glasses had no trouble displaying exactly what was being said and putting them inside the tiny displays within the Rokid glasses.
Maybe someone who is hard of hearing can also use this feature to understand what’s being said.
On the music side users can also enjoy the Bluetooth connection between the glasses and their smartphone to be able to listen to music, podcasts, and audio books through the speakers built into each arm of the glasses.
While listening to music you can also put up the lyrics in the lenses so you can sing along like you’ve got a mobile karaoke machine.
These are open speakers and in a quiet environment can be heard quite clearly.
But venture out into the world and you will still be able to hear quite well but the outside noise will have an impact because of the open nature of the speakers.
We put the glasses at full volume and were able to clearly hear our audio book in a busy shopping centre.
And even though the Rokid glasses are super impressive, one of the best features is the companion app.
It not only puts all the controls at your fingertips but also keeps a record of what was translated, the subtitles as well as all your images and videos.
Speaking of images and videos, the Rokid glasses provide an easy way to capture your memories while still staying in the moment.
The image quality through the 12-megapixel camera aboard the Rokid glasses is respectable and good enough to share.
The glasses can shoot 4K images in 3:4 or 9:16 so they are ideal for sharing.
On the video side you can shoot up to 3K at up to 30 frames per second in 916 and 3:4 so you can enjoy the experience hands-free and still have a video to look back on.
You can even live stream through the Rokid’s camera and also record just audio.
The Rokid AI and AR glasses are seriously impressive.
They offer so many features that can be used out in the real world in real time to provide information literally right before your eyes.
We’d love a few more styles to choose from but this first version is still quite impressive.
The Rokid glasses are available now in a special bundle priced at $999, which includes the case and magnetic sunglasses attachment.
VERDICT
The Rokid AI + AR glasses is an exciting product that represent a new direction for wearable technology that can connected you to your surroundings like never before while being able to access information in an instant.
