
Augmented Reality (AR) has long been the next step in the evolution of technology. While many tech giants are already making great strides in that space with breakthroughs like the Metaverse and the Oculus Rift, other companies have taken a different route to integrate their tech with AR functions. Google was one of the first tech companies to attempt to make a virtual display with its Google Glass, which, while successful in capturing the imaginations of many, failed to meet the expectations it promised. In that vein, Chinese tech giant OPPO seems to have found a way to succeed where Google failed with the announcement of its Air Glass.
At first glance, the Air Glass looks like a monocle that a character in The Matrix would wear, and after looking at its tech specifications, it’s not too far off from that. The Air Glass features a sleek, minimalistic waveguide design that draws inspiration from the wings of a cicada and functions as a detachable monocle that projects a heads-up display onto your glasses. Rather than trying to create an AR-capable headset that promises everything under the sun, OPPO tightened its focus. The Air Glass provides practical functions such as navigation, health data monitoring, a teleprompter, and live speech-to-text translation. Powering these futuristic functions is OPPO’s proprietary compact projection system, the Spark Micro Projector, which works in tandem with OPPO’s bespoke optical diffraction waveguide to deliver sharp visuals no matter the environment you’re in. Even better, the OPPO Air Glass supports different interactions such as touch, voice, and motion controls for enhanced user-friendliness.
At the moment, the OPPO Air Glass can only be supported on the brand’s smartphones and smartwatches, which are exclusive to China. That being said, if OPPO’s Air Glass is a success in China, it’s more than likely that other tech companies will adopt similar strategies for their own smart devices. OPPO has yet to release pricing information on the Air Glass.


