• Baidu has introduced the Xiaodu AI glasses, the world’s first AI glasses powered by a native Chinese AI model.
• AI glasses have emerged as a more promising category and are drawing increasing attention in the industry.
• Being part of Baidu, Xiaodu brings to the table years of expertise in the smart hardware domain and unrivaled AI capabilities.

At the 2024 Baidu World Conference held in Shanghai recently, Baidu introduced the Xiaodu AI Glasses, the world’s first AI glasses powered by a native Chinese AI model. We discuss below these glasses’ key features, the timeliness of their introduction, the emerging landscape of AI glasses, Baidu’s unique edge in the segment and implications for AI in China.

Xiaodu AI glasses’ key features

• Powered by Baidu’s LLM Ernie: Integrated with Baidu’s proprietary Large Language Model (LLM) Ernie, the glasses deliver robust AI capabilities. Ernie, already widely utilized in China, processes an impressive 1.5 billion API calls daily.
• Seamless AI integration: Offering up to five hours of continuous music playback, these glasses transform into versatile AI companions, serving as a tour guide, encyclopedia, real-time translator, personal assistant, and even a music DJ.
• Lightweight design: Weighing just 45 grams, the glasses provide exceptional comfort and practicality. They feature a 16MP ultrawide-angle camera with AI stabilization, enabling smooth and stable first-person perspective photography.

Source: Baidu

Why AI glasses now?

Over the past year, products like the Ai Pin and Rabbit R1, touted as a “new species” of technology, surfaced but then quickly faced setbacks after their release. This reveals the immense difficulty faced in embedding large-scale AI models into consumer hardware.

Against this backdrop, AI glasses have emerged as a more promising category and are drawing increasing attention in the industry. Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban to release the second-generation Meta smart glasses is a compelling case in point. Launched in September last year, these glasses have shown extraordinary growth, with annualized sales projected to surpass 2 million units, an impressive leap from the performance of the previous generation.

This surge highlights not only growing consumer interest but also the advancements in AI technology, which have now become capable of supporting the functionality and performance of AI-powered eyewear. Both the market and technology are becoming ready.

Emerging landscape of AI glasses

The smart glasses landscape is currently populated by three main types of players – niche startups focused solely on AI glasses, AR/VR technology firms extending into wearables, and giants from the smartphone and internet industries exploring this space.

Among emerging intelligent eyewear offerings, AR glasses and AI glasses are attracting the most attention. The primary distinction between them lies in their technological foundations – AR glasses rely predominantly on optical display and spatial sensing/computing technologies, while AI glasses are powered by advanced AI systems.

Within the AI glasses segment, there are two primary approaches to product design – “AI-enhanced hardware” and “AI-native hardware”.

• AI-enhanced hardware refers to traditional eyewear enhanced with AI functionalities. This is a straightforward approach, where AI features are layered onto existing hardware designs.

• AI-native hardware, on the other hand, represents a far more innovative approach. Here, AI systems act as the foundational engine, driven by LLMs, upon which hardware applications are built. This requires a sophisticated approach to determine which processes are handled locally on the device and which are processed via the cloud. It also necessitates optimizing the integration of sensors, chips and storage to achieve a balance between cost, performance, and user needs.

Notably, AI glasses have emerged as the hotter and more promising market, reflecting broader growth potential.

Baidu’s unique edge

Baidu’s Xiaodu AI glasses have embraced the AI-native hardware route, a strategic choice that aligns with the broader trend of embedding large AI models across diverse industries. This approach enables a more seamless fusion of glasses and AI, resulting in devices that feel natural and intuitive to users.

Being part of Baidu, Xiaodu brings to the table years of expertise in the smart hardware domain and unrivaled AI capabilities. Its evolution is rooted in its integration of the advanced Ernie AI model into its DuerOS operating system, reconstructing it into an AI-native platform.

To consistently follow the path of “AI + hardware”, Xiaodu embeds large-scale AI models across its entire product ecosystem. The AI-native DuerOS operating system offers notable advancements in natural language interaction, multimodal perception, and human-like responses, thanks to the rise of large AI models.

Having established itself as a leader in the domestic smart speaker market, Xiaodu has used this category as an anchor to expand into the broader smart hardware sector. Its diverse product line now spans from companion robots and smart earbuds to smart learning devices and fitness mirrors, showcasing its versatility and foresight in identifying consumer needs.

Xiaodu’s deep understanding of the rapidly evolving smart hardware market has enabled it to move decisively into the AI glasses space. Its ability to define products that integrate software and hardware into a cohesive, user-centric experience is pivotal to its success.

Implications for AI in China

• Pioneering consumer AI adoption: Baidu’s Xiaodu AI glasses represent a leap in advancing AI-native consumer electronics and accelerate the broader adoption of AI wearables, paving the way for AI technologies to become indispensable in daily lives. This milestone may also position Baidu as a leader in shaping the future of consumer AI.

• Stimulating domestic innovation: Baidu’s foray into AI glasses is likely to ignite a wave of innovation across China’s technology sector. By demonstrating the feasibility and appeal of AI-integrated hardware, Baidu is setting a benchmark that challenges other domestic tech giants and startups to innovate and compete. This competitive pressure will likely accelerate the development of new AI applications, foster breakthroughs in hardware-software integration, and spur advancements in supply chain optimization.

• Enhancing AI ecosystem: By embedding its Ernie LLM into wearable technology, Baidu is expanding its AI ecosystem, opening an important gateway for continuous data collection and refinement in this sector. This data flywheel enables Baidu to iteratively enhance its AI models, making them more intuitive, personalized, and aligned with user behaviors.