Smart glasses in Berlin – waterproof, stylish, with a color display

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It was already apparent at this year's CES that smart glasses with an integrated AI assistant could become a trend topic following the success of the Ray-Ban Meta. It is therefore not surprising that further prototypes of upcoming models can be seen at this year's IFA alongside the Rokid Glasses that c't has already tested in advance. And there have already been a few surprises in Berlin.

The biggest of these was certainly TCL: visitors to the Chinese company's stand (Hall 21, Stand 101) will be able to try on prototypes of the RayNeo X3 Pro model scheduled for October/November. This uses the "Waveguide" display technology known from the Rokid with projection onto matt surfaces in both lenses. However, the optical engine called "Firefly" not only displays text and graphics in green on this model, but according to the manufacturer in 16.7 million colors at – and with a peak brightness of 6000 instead of 1500 nits. The camera and LED (which flashes when a picture is being taken) have been moved to the center of the nose bridge, which makes it appear somewhat bulkier than other smart glasses.

TCL has not yet announced an official price, but it is expected to be in the region of 1500 euros. This would make the smart glasses around three times as expensive as the Rokid model. Like the latter, it offers an integrated audio system that can be used to listen to music and make phone calls. An AI assistant (Alibaba's Qwen) as well as teleprompter and translation functions are also integrated.

L'Atitude 52°N

A startup from Berlin is taking the basic concept of the Ray-Ban Meta – as glasses with an integrated camera and audio system, but without a display – and developing it further. And L'Atitude 52°N is presenting three particularly stylish models at IFA (Salle 25, Stand 344). Unlike the Ray-Ban Meta, they are not only protected against splash water in accordance with IPX4, but also against water jets in accordance with IP65. The charging case with 200 mAh battery is also water-resistant.

Another special feature is a special goggle strap that adds a walkie-talkie function via Bluetooth Mesh for up to eight people. This allows groups to stay connected even in remote areas without mobile phone reception and internet. To finance its smart glasses, L'Atitude 52°N has launched a Kickstarter campaign to coincide with the IFA launch, offering the glasses at a price of 220 euros (with charging case). The startup is targeting December as the delivery date.

Rokid

In addition to its smart glasses, which can be tried out on site (Hall 6.2, Stand 169), Rokid itself will be showing the announced case with integrated battery and the lens clips in Berlin. People with visual impairments can use these to attach additional corrective lenses (viewed from the eyes) in front of the actual Waveguide lenses.

Meanwhile, the Chinese manufacturer has also addressed the problem mentioned in the c't article, which occurred after transferring videos recorded with the glasses. According to the manufacturer, the trigger was that the glasses recorded at 60 hertz, but the companion app wanted to play the video at 50 hertz. Furthermore, the app now states that the translation service, which will later be charged for, comes from Microsoft.

Sharp

At its stand (Hall 22, Stand 101), which is only accessible to business partners, Sharp is showing three models: the Dynabook dynaEdge XR1 series device, which the company already offers on its Japanese home market, and two prototypes with different features. The "Full Color" prototype, which in turn uses Waveguide technology but in 1080p resolution and in color instead of just green, is particularly exciting. When asked, the company explained that it is currently observing the market and has not yet decided regarding a launch outside Japan.

(nij)