HiSilicon, the business unit of Huawei, has officially announced an augmented reality eyewear platform with 8K video decoding hardware, integrated graphics, and neural processors. Along with the chip, the first eyewear on this platform – Rokid Vision – was shown for demonstration.
The chip supports a resolution of 42.7 pixels per degree per eye. The resolution of the human eye is about 60 pixels per degree. Typically, a chip that decodes 4K at 60 frames per second can support a resolution for an eye of 21.3 pixels per degree, which is equivalent to 480P resolution, which is the equivalent of the old TV screen. It’s uncomfortable and not as exciting as advertisements say. The HiSilicon chip can provide more clarity during playback.
The platform also has its own architecture processor for AI algorithms. It has a peak processing power of 9 TOPS (therapy per second). This processor will accelerate image processing tasks such as environmental analysis, object recognition, and real-time graphics overlay in augmented reality. This makes the performance of the neuro processor in DR glasses important.
The Rokid vision glasses (on the renderer above), the first device on the new HiSilicon chip, was also the first product of the Chinese start-up company Rokid. The device can’t reject the original design, but the size of ordinary glasses is a long way off, as can be seen in the picture. They have two displays with a viewing angle of about 40°. For comparison, the HoloLens 2 has a diagonal field of view of 52°. Thanks to the waveguide displays, the novelty delivers a stereoscopic 1080P image that corresponds to a 110-inch TV at a distance of four meters from the viewer.
Rokid Vision positions eyewear for security, industry, education, retail, and exhibitions. It is a gadget for corporate customers.
The date of availability of the chip and glasses has not yet been announced.