Two days after Google unveiled the Pixel 10 series in New York last week, and just hours before I flew out of the city, I had a chance to check out the new Rokid AI Glasses.
The form factor has always fascinated me as a glasses wearer, and the Ray-Ban Meta is a must-have in my bag, allowing me to capture that incredible first-person point-of-view footage that you can’t easily capture with any other product. Yet, the Ray-Ban Meta are great for content creation and one of the best smart glasses, but since Google announced the first Google Glass thirteen years ago, we’ve been waiting for glasses with displays that can be truly useful.
With the rise of AI, the glasses form factor has become even more important. While Google has yet to fully unveil its Project Astra AR glasses built in partnership with X-Real, we may not have to look far for an ideal alternative.
Meet the new Rokid Glasses; I tried them and they’re incredible. Here’s why.
The perfect AI translator
I travel a lot, and I have longed for a super convenient way to understand the local language when I’m in a foreign country. The Rokid AI Glasses deliver just this, with real-time translation capabilities for conversations and images.
The Rokid Glasses are particularly useful for translating images. However, there is a caveat: while they excel at translating pictures of a menu on a laptop display, the translation is slightly inconsistent. On my first attempt, it translated the menu entirely, including pricing; however, the second attempt yielded less useful results without pricing information.
For real-time conversations, you hear the translated audio through the dual HD directional speakers, and it automatically recognizes the language before displaying the text translation on the small heads-up display. The Rokid Glasses feature the most convenient AI translator I’ve used, and I’m eager to test it on my next trip to Asia.
Ideal as a teleprompter
There’s another key feature that sets the Rokid Glasses apart: the teleprompter mode.
I record videos about technology, and the biggest challenge is setting up a teleprompter while traveling. The Rokid Glasses solve a key problem for content creators and will likely become essential for anyone who records video with scripts. As the Ray-Ban Meta has become popular for content creation and Instagram integration, the Rokid Glasses could be for long-form content creators.
You can activate teleprompter mode either with the control pad and button on the right arm or using the “Hi, Rokid” voice command. This pairs with Rokid’s AI Assistant to allow you to launch apps, ask questions, perform tasks and actions on the glasses, or activate different features.
The dual-monochrome green micro-LED display is easy to see even in indoor conditions; however, it remains unclear how well it will perform against a bright backdrop. From my first hands-on, one thing is clear: the Rokid Glasses deliver on what I want from AR glasses.
A suite of useful AI & AR tools
Those two features are enough to seal the deal for me on the Rokid Glasses, as each solves a key problem that I face frequently. Yet, the Rokid Glasses also feature other practical and useful AI & AR tools that solve problems that many people face.
First, there’s Object & Scene Recognition, a feature that could be a game-changer for those who are hard of sight. The Rokid Glasses were easily able to recognize different objects and scenes just by asking “Hi Rokid, what’s in front of me?” and the responses were rich, detailed, and provided great context.
From recognizing wide spaces, such as an office, to minute details like a specific brand of flowers, the Rokid Glasses seem capable of identifying a wide range of scenarios and objects, and crucially, parlaying them into a detailed description that is inherently useful.
Then there’s HUD Navigation, which displays turn-by-turn directions directly in the 23° field of view from the display in each eye. I couldn’t test this during my brief hands-on as we were indoors, but this is a feature that we expect from any AR glasses, so it should work as planned.
Cameras and other hardware
Another table-stakes feature on AR glasses is the ability to capture photos and videos, especially since the Ray-Ban Meta has conditioned customers to expect this feature. The Rokid Glasses mostly deliver on this, with native 12MP photos in a 3:4 format, and an unusual 1680p (1680×1050 pixels) video recording.
The entire package is powered by the Qualcomm AR1 processor, featuring 2GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. Each eye features a micro LED display with a 480 x 398 pixel resolution and a brightness rating of 1,500 nits. There are also four mics with AI-powered noise cancellation for clear calls, although I couldn’t test this either.
If you’re like me and require prescription lenses, Rokid confirmed that the Rokid Glasses will be available with magnetic attachments that accommodate your specific prescription. It’ll take around three weeks for them to arrive, although this is the stated time once the product has entered the market.
After spending time with them, the Rokid Glasses are incredible
The Rokid Glasses feature a 210mAh battery, and the included charging case offers up to ten recharges with a full charge. Rokid didn’t confirm how long the battery will last, although it is easy to put it into sleep mode using the touchpad and button combination. The Rokid Glasses are quite light, weighing only 49 grams, thanks to their magnesium-alloy frame, and they offer IPX4 splash resistance.
Many of the AI features on the Rokid Glasses are powered by a combination of AI Assistants, including ChatGPT, which Rokid relies on for contextual queries and task automation. Every query and interaction with the glasses is also available to view in the app, allowing you to recall the information on a larger screen when needed.
The Rokid Glasses are available on Kickstarter for $499, a $100 discount on the $599 MSRP. At the time of posting, there are 44 days to go; the campaign has achieved over $300,000 in backing — significantly exceeding its $20,000 goal — and I can see why: after spending time with them, the Rokid Glasses are incredible.
