ODG Joins Forces with Migu to Promote Chinese Version of AR Glasses China Mobile Leverages AR Market A consumer version
ODG Joins Forces with Migu to Promote Chinese Version of AR Glasses China Mobile Leverages AR Market A consumer version of the augmented reality glasses that were once used by the U.S. military and tested by NASA is set to be launched to the Chinese market this year. The AR glasses manufacturer, which has been described by the American media as "starting related business before the invention of VR/AR vocabulary", not only has the support of Chinese capital, but also uses China as the door to open the global AR consumer market. On January 12, Osterhout Design Group (ODG), a wearables company known for manufacturing smart glasses and other devices for the U.S. military, announced in Shanghai that its two augmented reality glasses, which it just announced at CES, will be launched in China this year, and its initial partners are Chinese telecom giant China Mobile and its content service provider Migu Video.
Boots POF13502 Unisex Eyeglass Frame BK Black According to the agreement that has been announced, ODG will cooperate with China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu Video, and its AR glasses R8 and R9 for the mass consumer market announced at CES will be sold through China Mobile's retail network this year, while Migu Video will produce 3D video content for AR glasses. Not only the promotion of the market, but also in December 2016, ODG's first financing in many years also came from China.
Chinese lens makers Shenzhen Offit Technology Co., Ltd. and Wanfeng City Investment and Development Co., Ltd. are among the investors of the eyewear maker, along with Hollywood giant 21st Century Fox. "China is the largest mobile market, and ODG's first two consumer eyewear will be launched in China, the first of its kind in the world." Pete Jameson, chief operating officer of ODG, said in an exclusive interview with the reporter of the 21st Century Business Herald. Although the first consumer product of military AR has been exhibited by AR glasses manufacturers for three consecutive years, the ODG booth was still full at the past consumer electronics show, and its newly launched R8 and R9 still received a lot of attention.
These two glasses were named the best innovations of 2017 at CES by many media outlets. What has attracted much attention is that these two glasses are the first augmented reality products to use Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chips. As the mobile chip platform behind high-end phones such as the Iphone, the latest Snapdragon 835 has made a series of optimizations for AR/VR, which can provide more accurate audio, more realistic visuals, and a better interactive experience.
Moreover, it supports scene and physical sound sources, supports decoding of DSD original films, reduces the motion displacement delay by 20%, and can achieve 6DOF tracking. "Computing power and power consumption have always been the core points of eyewear products, and this time, the use of state-of-the-art technology has greatly improved the performance of ODG glasses." Jameson said. Jameson told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that compared with the existing AR/VR products on the market, the biggest technical feature of ODG is that it can scan and recognize the surrounding environment only with the glasses themselves, without the need for several separate sensors and no need to connect to an external computer.
"Think of glasses as a mobile phone, a mobile computer, not only can you project digital information on real objects, but you can also watch movies and send emails with your mobile phone as an external device." According to previous reports, when the cooperation intention with NASA was reached, the two sides believed that it would be an important function for astronauts who often carry out refurbishment operations to wear glasses and receive ground guidance through enhanced screen information during renovations, and this function is in fact based on effective tracking.
Like Microsoft's HoloLens, both the R-8 and R-9 support 6DOF tracking, so you can place virtual items directly in the real space while wearing these two AR glasses. In addition to the spectacle parameters themselves, at CES, the cooperation between 21st Century Fox, a shareholder of ODG and a famous Hollywood studio, and ODG is even more eye-catching. 21st Century Fox and ODG have co-developed an augmented reality scene display based on the Fox movie "Aliens".
Jameson told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the product is still an early model, and the mass-produced product will be released within the year. China Mobile and ODG's AR ambitions were on the 12th, and the news about the Lunar New Year AR red envelopes went viral. Previously, Alipay officially announced the gameplay of "AR real-life red envelopes".
It is understood that mobile phone QQ, Suning Tesco and other platforms will also launch AR red envelopes, and it is conceivable that AR real-life red envelopes will become the mainstream new way to play red envelopes this year. "At any level, the number of existing VR/AR users in China has greatly exceeded that of other regions." Jameson said.
Jameson told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that this time ODG enters China, it will directly produce two different effects, and will automatically obtain the current content with the Android system as the background and seamlessly connect to the glasses; Secondly, the ODG will encourage the development team in China to carry out completely open development and increase the content of the ODG system.
Jameson said the R-8, which currently retails under $1,000, will be available to developers after the third quarter of 2017. The R-9 provides developers with a connector to expand the module, allowing them to add custom modules to the glasses according to their actual functional needs. The R-9 is priced at $1,800 and will be available in a developer version in the second quarter of 2017.
RB5315D2013 It is understood that both products are based on the ODG eighth-generation platform that integrates WiFi and Blue, built-in GPS, dual microphones and stereo speakers. "At present, AR content has not yet formed a good platform, so ODG using Android to encourage developers to develop content in an open form is a very wise choice in the process of AR market still forming." Gunleik Groven, CEO of Quine, a European AR tracking technology startup, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter. In addition to China Mobile, the telecom giant represented by Migu, domestic industrial giants such as Tencent and Alibaba are also laying out the augmented reality industry chain. Tencent-invested AR glasses Meta and Alibaba-invested Magic Leap are still in the product development stage.
In the next five years, China Mobile will implement the big connection strategy based on the vision of the world's leading operator in digital innovation, build a new ecosystem of cross-border integration based on the 5G joint innovation center, and build a full-platform ecosystem for the whole industry chain.
According to the market research firm IDC's "Semi-Annual Report on Global Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Spending" recently released, new, inexpensive hardware devices have made AR/VR technology available to more and more companies and individuals. Developers will be creating a plethora of new experiences for these devices in the coming years, fundamentally changing the way many people work.
The global augmented reality and virtual reality market revenue is expected to grow at a mixed annual growth rate of 181.3% from 2015 to 2020 and reach $162 billion in 2020. 21st Century Business Herald (Guangzhou), slightly modified, Haichang daily throwaway.