On January 8, XREAL launched XREAL Air 2 Ultra AR glasses for developers, which are the cheapest AR glasses with 6DoF spatial computing power.
The Air 2 Ultra is XREAL’s affordable, lightweight solution for developers around the world, designed to lower the barrier to entry into the world of spatial computing.
The XREAL Air 2 Ultra features dual 3D environment sensors with computer Vision capabilities for six degrees of freedom (6DoF), comparable to the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3.
The price is much cheaper than the two, and it is now accepting pre-orders from developers, priced at $699 (about 4,990 yuan), and is expected to start shipping in March.
How does the XREAL Air 2 Ultra achieve 6-DoF?
Early AR glasses, in order to provide the most accurate and reliable tracking experience, needed to be equipped with a high-performance tracking system driven by multiple fisheye cameras, depth cameras, etc., which would make the device heavy and expensive, and not suitable for individual developers.
The low-cost 6DoF tracking also has single camera, single eye fisheye camera, binocular fisheye camera and other solutions, of which the binocular fisheye camera proved to be a mass-produced and more reliable solution.
The XREAL Air 2 Ultra is equipped with a pair of 3D environment sensors with computer vision capabilities, similar to binocular fisheye cameras, which use positioning and mapping to determine the user’s position in 3D space.
This 3D environment sensor is designed for developers to create AR applications and explore new spatial computing experiences, supporting hand tracking, 3D grid creation, semantic scene understanding, and potential AI extension.
XREAL has also designed development kits for developers, including the XREAL AR environment launcher Nebula (Android, Mac, Windows) and the latest version of the XREAL SDK, designed to maximize the potential of spatial computing technology with XREAL’s latest in-frame sensors.
How does the XREAL Air 2 Ultra work?
The XREAL Air 2 Ultra features an advanced, self-developed optical engine that gives wearers a full HD level of Vision in each eye, with a field of view (FOV) of 52° and pixels per degree (PPD) of 42, surpassing even the Apple Vision Pro (Vision Pro’s 40 PPD).
At the same time, a fast refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 500 nits mean that images are sharp and vivid in a variety of light conditions.
With the XREAL Air 2 Ultra, developers get the visual effect of viewing a 154-inch virtual 2D screen projection from a distance of 4 meters.
In terms of sound, the XREAL Air 2 Ultra supports directional audio technology that reduces sound diffusion for better privacy and less interference to others.
To make it more accessible to developers, the XREAL Air 2 Ultra is compatible with a variety of devices, including but not limited to Mac and Windows PCS, Samsung phones, and Apple iPhone 15.
What’s more, the XREAL Air 2 Ultra (including the XREAL Air 2 and XREAL Air 2 Pro) supports Apple’s latest spatial video features.
Users can use a third-party iPhone APP to convert spatial video captured on the iPhone 15 Pro into the prevailing side-by-side format and watch it on the XREAL Air 2 series glasses, eliminating the need for expensive Apple Vision Pro.
The XREAL Air 2 Ultra features the first titanium frame
It is worth mentioning that the 3D environment sensor on the XREAL Air 2 Ultra is the smallest 3D environment sensor on the market, which also makes the Air 2 Ultra smaller than most competitors.
The industry’s first titanium ring frame, lightweight body of just 80 grams, optimized weight distribution design, adjustable legs in three gears and three sets of nose pads ensure the clearest images in comfort.
This is in line with XREAL’s philosophy that future wearable 6DoF glasses will be all-day wearable and friendlier to all participants in the XR development ecosystem.
With the gradual popularization of AR glasses, products with 6DoF tracking function will become more and more abundant, which is the basis for bringing excellent immersive experience to consumers, and is also one of the key technologies for AR glasses to thousands of households.
Today, the XREAL Air 2 Ultra AR glasses are released, bringing a very cheap 6DoF tracking solution to developers around the world to help developers create high-quality AR experiences.
The development of AR technology will also fundamentally change the way we interact with virtual data and effectively promote the popularity of AR technology.
XREAL will launch a “Living in Space” experience at CES 2024, showing how users can visually interact with digital content like never before. At the same time, with the release of new products, XREAL products have ushered in a limited time discount, AR interested in small partners may wish to go to watch.