This photo taken on September 22, 2023 shows a Rokid employee demonstrating an augmented reality helmet at the company’s offices in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province, host city of the 2022 Asian Games. . From autonomous bug zappers to android pianists to driverless ice cream trucks, machines are ruling the world, at least at the Asian Games in China. The host city, Hangzhou, is the unofficial home of China’s high-tech industry, with robots and other wondrous gadgets set up to serve, entertain and police visitors. (Photo credit: Philip FONG/AFP) / AFP Article ASIAD-2022-2023-technology, FOCUS by Jing Xuan Teng (Photo credit: PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
Philip Fong | AFP | Getty Images
Augmented reality (AR) technology allows you to overlay digital images onto the real world. Apple’s Vision Pro virtual reality headset, scheduled for release on February 2nd, will also allow users to see the real world using what the company calls “spatial computing” technology.
Rokid sells consumer AR glasses. But the Hefei deal focuses on the use of AR in factories, Rokid founder and CEO Misa Zhu told CNBC in a phone interview Wednesday.
He said AR glasses could help check the safety of equipment while also reducing the time workers spend training, and Rokid already has more than 60% market share in industries such as energy in China. he claimed.
Zhu said Rokid can test new AR technology with industrial customers before finding a way to lower costs and roll it out to consumers, as companies value product functionality over price.
The cooperation agreement between Lokid and Hefei City will establish an “industrial metaverse headquarters, ecosystem center and research and development center,” local state media reported in Chinese, with translation by CNBC.
While companies are moving supply chains away from China due to geopolitics and labor costs, the Chinese government has said it wants to build domestic capabilities in advanced manufacturing.
Rokid said it plans to make further technology announcements in the coming weeks. The company also sees great potential with the introduction of artificial intelligence.
“AI and AR will change people’s lives in the next five to 10 years,” Zhu told CNBC in Mandarin. “AI helps us collect and organize data better. [AR] for a more natural look. ”