CES 2024: First Look At XREAL AR Glasses Synergized With The NIO ES8 EV

The 2020’s is quickly shaping up to be an arms race between car manufacturers and entertainment hardware makers like XREAL in an attempt to find the perfect combination for infotainment viewing. The AR glasses maker has evolved quickly their business in a short period of time from being a niche product, to potentially a big time player in a rapidly growing market. At their gigantic CES 2024 booth, we were shocked to see a Nio ES8 on display surrounded by augmented reality glasses. This Chinese EV SUV is a rare sight on American soil as it is currently only sold in China and certain European countries.

While XREAL announced multiple partnerships with car makers like Nio and BMW, I got a chance to get up close with the elusive ES8 and see how the new pair of AR glasses integrates with the vehicle. CES 2024 saw a lot of infotainment facelifts from EV makers, with Volkswagen going heavily into ChatGPT reliance, and VinFast showcasing their upcoming incorporation of Sony’s RIDEVU software. While those solutions for obtaining information while traveling still requires looking at a physical display screen, XREAL and Nio believe the future revolves around augmented reality instead.

Speaking with a rep at the booth, I was told that a pair of specially branded XREAL Air glasses will be available for ES8 owners. However, this does not limit owners of a regular consumer pair to use with that model of vehicle. Nio and XREAL will collaborate to release an app that will provide movies and games that will be integrated with the vehicle in order to provide a next level theater experience. This is an “all-sensory immersive cockpit experience called PanoCinema” according to the company. Realtime data is fed to the car through the glasses. For example, when viewing a movie with an XREAL set plugged into the ES8, the vehicle will recognize what you are watching and recline your seat to a certain angle. When viewing is complete, the car will automatically open the windows to let light and air into the cabin to help bring you back to reality. XREAL gave demos of this in their busy booth during CES 2024.

My concern with augmented or virtual reality is obtaining motion sickness. While the AR glasses gives you a massive 130-inch virtual screen to watch as a passenger when you ride, the vehicle is still technically bumping on the road. You would think adding a moving vehicle to the experience would double the potential for dizziness, but XREAL says the 3 DoF (degrees of freedom) tracking will help prevent motion sickness in the car while using the unit. From my understanding, this means the glasses will detect your head movement and keep what you’re seeing in a fixed viewing space while your head can move to see objects without blocking that view.

Unfortunately for us Americans, we won’t be able to see how this partnership plays out in person as Nio does not sell their electric vehicles in North America. We’ll have to hope for XREAL to progress their integration with their other partners that have a better shot at a mass consumer release for roads in the USA. Still, I find these collaborations to be a truly remarkable look at just how far technology has come. Two previously unrelated industries can now synergize their products and services in order to create a brand new experience for consumers. This is what we live for as tech enthusiasts!

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