Wearing AR Glasses for Avatar Remote Meetings... Assembling Furniture While Watching YouTube (Comprehensive)

LG Uplus to Launch AR Glasses 'U+ Real Glass' on 21st
Wear Glasses and Control with Smartphone... Run Up to 3 Apps
Collaborating with Spatial for Remote Meeting Pilot Service Soon
Compatible with 5G Smartphones like Galaxy Note20 and Velvet

LG Uplus is demonstrating the AR glasses 'U+ Real Glass' at a press conference held at the Yongsan headquarters on the 11th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] When wearing AR glasses, an avatar resembling me sat at the meeting table in a virtual conference room. Instead of a paper manual, I assembled furniture by playing a YouTube video. I watched my favorite idol star dancing in 360 degrees. Scenes that were only seen in movies have become reality. The protagonist is LG Uplus's AR glasses, 'U+ Real Glass.'

On the 11th, LG Uplus held a press conference at its Yongsan headquarters in Seoul and announced that it will launch 'U+ Real Glass' on the 21st. It is the world's first AR glasses sold to general consumers. LG Uplus, which has been operating an experience zone since June, partnered with AR specialist company Enreal to release the AR glasses.

Kim Junhyun, LG Uplus 5G Service Manager (Executive Director), said, "The U+ Real Glass we are introducing is the first B2C product and is reasonably priced compared to other products. We take pride in LG Uplus's exclusive launch." He added, "Until now, when AR content was created and serviced, virtual objects could be seen through a smartphone camera window, but viewing the same type of object with AR glasses securing a 360-degree field of view provides greater customer value."

AR Glasses That Turn the Space in Front of Your Eyes into a Screen

The screen displayed on U+ Glass as seen on a monitor

Trying on the U+ Real Glass, about 50 apps appeared in front of my eyes like on a smartphone. When moving the smartphone, a virtual laser moves along, and touching the smartphone launches the desired app. Enlarging the YouTube screen to full screen filled the lens screen as if I were in a movie theater. Swiping the smartphone upward brings the app closer to the eyes, and swiping downward moves it farther away. By moving the head up, down, left, and right, various apps such as Naver or KakaoTalk can be launched and arranged in empty spaces. Since it uses a mirroring function to display apps on the AR glasses, it uses the smartphone's CPU, GPU, and battery. It can be used for about 1 to 1.5 hours.

The U+ Real Glass is equipped with three cameras that recognize space, volume control buttons, and speakers on the temple arms. It must be connected to a smartphone via a USB cable, with the smartphone acting as the controller. Currently, control is via smartphone, but Enreal is developing a service that recognizes hand gestures. They have distributed an SDK (software development kit), and a hand gesture recognition app service is expected to be launched in the first half of next year. Enreal is an AR startup that debuted by showcasing AR glasses at CES 2019 and established a Korean branch at the end of last year for the domestic launch of U+ Real Glass.

Yeo Jeongmin, Enreal Vice President, said about launching AR glasses first in Korea, "Korea has the most AR content. Especially LG Uplus has clear investment plans not only for related content but also for the future." He added, "We plan to commercialize through global mobile carriers such as China Mobile, China Unicom, and KDDI."

When Wearing AR Glasses, Your Avatar Joins Remote Meetings

LG Uplus plans to provide a pilot service of a remote meeting system in collaboration with the U.S. AR/VR collaboration platform developer Spatial starting on the 21st. It realizes the meeting scenes from the movie Kingsman. Up to 10 people can connect from different locations and participate in meetings with their own avatars. It is also possible to play videos from files and watch them together.

Lee Jinha, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Spatial, said, "As augmented reality becomes a reality, I thought narrowing the distance between people is most important, so I founded Spatial." He explained, "Spatial is an AR platform that helps people work as if they are in the same room even when far apart. You can create an avatar resembling yourself from a single photo, share various materials, and work together. We plan to release a beta version soon."

Song Daewon, LG Uplus Future Device Manager (Executive Director), said, "Since you can participate in meetings as an avatar, there is no need to worry about your appearance, and you can invite colleagues or friends to the space you want to work in and share PPTs or 3D content."

The U+ Pro Baseball app running on U+ Real Glass

When you run the U+ Real Glass U+ Idol Live content, you can watch the performance while moving 360 degrees. (Source: U+ Glass promotional video capture)

The U+ Real Glass is compatible with the Galaxy Note20 and will soon be available on the LG Velvet. However, it is only available to 5G subscribers. It can run all Android apps. LG Uplus plans to release U+ AR and U+ VR apps as dedicated apps for AR glasses and provide AR glasses-specific features in U+ Pro Baseball and U+ Idol apps.

Manager Song said, "In the U+ Pro Baseball app, without switching channels, you can watch baseball and turn your head to see the competing team's score, pitcher's ERA, batter's batting average, and head-to-head records." He added, "The U+ AR·VR apps operate on 5G smartphones and provide smooth service at speeds of 30 to 40 Mbps on 5G, so they are not supported on LTE."

The retail price of the AR glasses is 699,000 KRW. If you subscribe to the 5G Premier Plus plan (105,000 KRW per month) or higher and select the 'Smart Device Pack,' you can purchase it at a 50% discount. Frames that can attach prescription lenses, lens covers, and nose pads are provided.

The Rapidly Growing AR Glasses Market... Up to 40 Million Units in Four Years

The AR glasses market is growing rapidly. According to market research firm IDC, shipments of AR glasses, which were 200,000 units in 2019, are expected to reach 41.1 million units in 2024. The compound annual growth rate is about 191.1%. Compared to VR glasses that completely separate the actual environment visually, AR glasses display AR screens over the real space, so there is no worry about bumping into objects or walls or experiencing motion sickness.

Currently, besides Enreal, several AR glasses such as Magic Leap One ($2,295) and Microsoft's HoloLens 2 ($3,500) have been released, but these two products are expensive, heavy, and require connection to a main unit or separate device. Not only Microsoft but also Apple is developing AR glasses and is expected to unveil a prototype next year. AR glasses are expected to rapidly grow as the next-generation hardware succeeding smartphones.

Chi Shu, Enreal CEO and founder, said, "This service launch is a historic moment shaking the foundation of the mobile internet industry," and added, "Through the partnership with LG Uplus, we will support Korean customers to have diverse experiences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.