Last year, at CES in Las Vegas, the Chinese company Nreal surprised with the announcement of Light , a mixed reality glasses that changed the rules of the game. Unlike the two most advanced projects in this area so far – the Magic Leap One and the Microsoft Hololens – this product had a very small size.
The Nreal Light, in fact, are as large as ordinary sunglasses , moving away from that format of ‘helmet’ or visor commonly used for this technology. Regardless of its size, one of its greatest advances is that the glasses have been separated from the processor. This is connected by a cable, as with the Magic Leap. The chip is a Snapdragon 855, the same one that many wide-range smartphones incorporate.
The Nreal Light have four cameras capable of measuring space, can recognize objects and planes and have HD sound.
From consumer to business
Just over a year later, the manufacturer has announced that it is developing an all-in-one version for business use . Thus, businesses and professionals will be able to use a wireless mixed reality platform, which does not depend on a smartphone to operate the processor or controls.
At the moment Nreal calls its new invention ‘All In-One Edition’ or ‘Enterprise’ Edition, although it is a provisional name. This new version would be a direct rival to the HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap 1, with a price probably more competitive than these proposals and an overall superior performance.
The business version of the Nreal Light would use the software development kit (SDK) that has the consumer model. However, it seems that the business model is going to lose its reduced dimensions and become somewhat heavier. The first images revealed show a gadget that looks more like a viewfinder than glasses and that, apparently, would be equipped with somewhat bulkier front cameras. These cameras would be able to detect gestures with precision, while the computing area would be located at the rear.
The new Nreal glasses will also be compatible with Android and will give access to a secure platform in the cloud, to guarantee the privacy required by companies.
Nreal CEO Chi Xu explained: “Our network of developers has introduced innovative applications for Nreal Light.” The executive ensures that his All In One model will be a complementary device that provides a “high performance, secure and reliable platform, which is not necessarily limited by strict form factor requirements.”
Is there really room on the market for the Nreal Light All-In-One ? Will brands, companies, and developers embrace them as they have Microsoft’s Magic Leap or Hololens? Will the Chinese company’s proposal sink or will it be another failure like Google Glass? To answer these questions, it only remains to wait for Nreal to start marketing its model.
