Author|Zhang Yu
Editor|Yang Bocheng
On April 20, Rokid, known as one of the "AR Four Tigers", held Rokid Open Day 2024 and released a new spatial computing product, Rokid AR Lite, including Rokid Max2 glasses and Rokid Station2 console equipped with Snapdragon computing platform.
Rokid AR Lite cancels the original front physical buttons on the host and adds multi-finger and multi-gesture touch human-computer interaction. This means that in the operation of 3D content, users can seamlessly connect with the usage habits from mobile terminals.
Rokid AR Lite further demonstrates Rokid's innovation in the field of spatial computing, using advanced multi-screen display and multitasking technology, allowing users to enjoy multiple entertainment and work experiences at the same time, such as watching movies while browsing WeChat and Xiaohongshu, making it more convenient and efficient to use.
Source: Rokid's official website
It is worth noting that Rokid AR Lite focuses on the functions and experiences of home, travel, and outdoor scenarios, and brings a number of innovations in games, large-screen viewing, and light office, guiding the popularization of spatial computing to the mass consumer market.
However, Rokid's road ahead is not smooth: on the one hand, Thunderbird Innovation, XREAL, etc. continue to obtain huge financing and continue to launch new products to seize market share, and at the same time, OPPO, Huawei, Meizu and other smartphone manufacturers have also entered the field of consumer-grade AR glasses; Apple and other technology giants, in contrast, whether it is brand influence or volume, Rokid is lagging behind.
It is foreseeable that in the field of "star-studded" consumer-grade AR glasses, how to avoid homogeneous competition will become the key to Rokid's breakthrough.
Apple Vision Pro?
Rokid's latest release of Rokid AR Lite is quite a sniper Apple Vision Pro.
In fact, Rokid has long been in a battle with Apple for "spatial computing". In June 2023, at WWDC23 held by Apple, Vision Pro was unveiled, and Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "Just as the Mac brings us into the era of personal computing, the iPhone brings us into the era of mobile computing, and the Apple Vision Pro will open the era of spatial computing." ”
Just two months later, Rokid launched the consumer-grade OST (optical fluoroscopy) personal spatial computing platform Rokid AR Studio at the 2023 Rokid Jungle press conference, which is composed of AR spatial computing glasses Rokid Max Pro and AR spatial computing host Rokid Station Pro, claiming that the "era of spatial interaction" has officially kicked off, pointing to Apple Vision Pro.
However, Rokid and Apple's technical route is not the same, Rokid chose the OST route, the technology through the optical display module, the virtual image is projected into the user's field of vision, so that the user can see the real world and augmented reality content at the same time, the advantage is that it can provide a more natural visual experience, better interactivity and immersion, and the disadvantage is that the stability and clarity of the image are more challenging.
The technical route behind Apple is VST (Video Perspective) route, which allows users to watch augmented reality content through devices such as displays or glasses by superimposing virtual images on real-time video streams in the real world, with the advantage of being able to present a combination of real and virtual video, but the disadvantage is that there may be problems such as delay or distortion, which affects the user experience, and at the same time, the user experience will be limited due to the need to rely on devices such as displays or glasses.
Therefore, Zhu Mingming, founder and CEO of Rokid, once denied Rokid's statement against Apple, "Apple Vision Pro will not have a direct impact on Rokid at the moment, as two different technical routes, heavyweight and lightweight products will also exist in the future." Rokid is itself, and the two will be two classic brands in the era of spatial computing. ”
It is worth mentioning that whether the Rokid AR Lite intends to snipe the Apple Vision Pro or not, the two have formed a-for-tat situation on the spatial computing track.
On January 19th, the Apple Vision Pro opened pre-sale on time, but within 5 minutes of the sale, the server was crowded, and many orders could not be processed. Because of the large number of orders, the delivery time of Apple Vision Pro has been greatly delayed, and Apple's official website shows that the delivery date has been postponed to March, and some orders have even been scheduled for April.
The Apple Vision Pro was sold out in pre-sales, once again validating Apple's market appeal, and at the 2024 annual meeting of the China Development Forum, Tim Cook said that the Apple Vision Pro headset will be available in the Chinese market by the end of this year. This means that the Rokid AR Lite will face direct competition from the Apple Vision Pro.
Previously, market research agency Statista released a report that it is estimated that Apple Vision Pro will ship 350,000 units in the first year of listing and 1.48 million units in the second year. Based on a simple calculation of selling price and forecasted sales, the Vision Pro is expected to bring in $1.2 billion in revenue for Apple this year and nearly $5.2 billion in 2025. Morgan Stanley also predicts that Apple could raise the revenue generated by the Apple Vision Pro to $4 billion within four years of its release.
With the launch of Apple Vision Pro in the Chinese market, the consumer AR glasses track will set off a knockout race, in the next two to three years, only by polishing the technology and product differentiation can we survive, at present, Rokid AR Lite still needs to pass the market test first.
There is still a long way to go in the implementation of spatial computing
With the advent of Rokid AR Lite, the battle for "spatial computing" between Rokid and Apple has further heated up.
Tim Cook, who first brought the concept of spatial computing to the stage, argues that spatial computing seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to remain present and connected to others. Zhu Mingming gave three specific standards for spatial computing: first, the virtual space and the real world are one, and the user's intention, action, and interaction in this new space are instantaneous, natural, barrier-free, and even insensitive; second, behind the spatial computing is the virtualization and reconstruction of the three-dimensional space itself, which is based on showing processing power and supporting the title of "computer"; third, the application and software in spatial computing have good compatibility, Ecological richness will lead to large-scale applications and become mainstream computing platforms in the consumer market.
With the support of XR, 3D, computer graphics, machine vision, Internet of Things, sensing, somatosensory, AIGC and other convergence technologies, users can use terminals such as MR headsets and spatial operating systems to interact with digital content and the spatial environment in an immersive way.
At the same time, this also means that hardware products are far from enough, and rich application scenarios are the soil for the growth of spatial computing.
For example, in the field of education, Rokid tries to promote the application and innovation of AR in education through various ways such as AR schools and research camps. In addition, during the Wuzhen Theater Festival, Rokid also co-created an AR puppet drama "The Disappearing Sea Animal" with his partners, creating a precedent for AR stage plays.
However, the premise of spatial computing lies in the close connection and coordination of ecology, hardware configuration, network, chips and algorithms, and the current level of virtual and real integration between the real world and the digital world is in its infancy, and there is still a certain distance from the complete landing. At the same time, each capability of spatial computing is the crystallization of technology polishing and supply chain cultivation, and each capability has extremely high barriers, and the barriers after combination are even higher. Whether Rokid can stay at the "spatial computing" table in the end depends on whether he has real hard power.
The battle between the scene and the ecology
"Whether from the perspective of the consumer market, supply chain, and application ecology, the AR market as a whole is still in a relatively early stage. Li Hongwei, founder and CEO of Thunderbird Innovation, said. Xu Chi, founder and CEO of XREAL, also pointed out: "The current AR market is in an era where there is no mature industrial chain, no hardware standards, and no software ecology. ”
According to the "2024 China AR Industry Development Insight Research" released by Yiou Think Tank, the cumulative number of customers served by Rokid has exceeded 1 million, and in 2023, it will account for 27.9% of the market shipments, ranking first in domestic consumer-grade AR glasses. Despite this, Rokid still faces difficulties that need to be overcome.
First of all, the content ecology of consumer-grade AR glasses is not rich enough, far from being comparable to the content ecology of smartphones, and there have never been explosive products on the application side. The most important thing is that the content ecosystem cannot be developed by AR glasses manufacturers alone, but must be jointly built by partners from all walks of life, which is not something that can be quickly solved in the short term.
For users, the content ecology is insufficient, and the most direct problem is that it gradually becomes idle, and can no longer raise the interest in use, for manufacturers, the user's frequency of use is too low, and the developer can not adapt to the interest, and it will not be able to establish an effective business model, and eventually form a vicious circle, restricting positive development.
Secondly, limited by voice recognition technology, image recognition technology, and augmented reality technology, the application scenarios of AR glasses are mainly concentrated in games, movie viewing and other fields. Taking the game field as an example, Rokid's AR glasses can only support some small games for the time being, similar to mainstream games such as "Honor of Kings" and "Peace Elite".
According to the statistics of the Guanyan Tianxia Data Center, games account for 35% of the consumer applications of AR glasses in China, 32% of film and television live broadcasts, and 33% of travel and social shopping. However, these three types of application scenarios are not irreplaceable, and consumer-grade AR glasses still lack a strong demand as support.
Obviously, consumer-grade AR glasses are only suitable for micro-interaction, and even if AR glasses are integrated and applied in a certain application scenario, they will only bring a short-term fresh experience and have no subversive significance.
It can be seen that whether Rokid AR Lite can usher in the outbreak moment remains to be verified by the market, although consumer-grade AR glasses are only hardware, but behind them is a huge ecological industry chain, involving innovative technology, innovative materials, innovative content ecology, etc., Rokid still has a long way to go.