Chinese AR startup Rokid launched a Kickstarter campaign yesterday for Rokid Glasses, a new version of the company’s smart glasses with green monochrome displays which previously launched in China. Now, after 24 hours, the project has already garnered over $500,000, marking an undeniable demand for smart glasses that go beyond the audio-only experience of Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta HSTN glasses.
Starting at the base tier of $479, representing a 20% discount of its $599 MSRP, Rokid Glasses boast a bevy of familiar features, including AI voice queries (via ChatGPT), music listening, calls, and photo and video capture.
Rokid Glasses’ biggest feature though is undoubtedly its integrated dual waveguides, which output a monochrome green heads-up display for things like turn-by-turn directions, teleprompter, and real-time text and voice translation with 89 languages (five offline via Rokid’s own LLM).
Notably, there are a few smart glasses coming to market promising ostensibly similar heads-up displays. Google is promising future availability in its slate of forthcoming Android XR smart glasses. Meta is also rumored to release a display version of its smart glasses, likely also built in partnership with EssilorLuxottica like Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta. Reports also point to Apple developing smart glasses, although rumors haven’t specified whether these also include display(s).
But Rokid is one of the first big names in the XR space looking to serve consumers with its display-clad smart glasses. And the results so far suggest we’re going to see multi-million dollars flood into its Kickstarter campaign, which is slated to continue until October 10th.
Billed as the “world’s lightest full-function AI & AR glasses” (they aren’t actually augmented reality, more on why here), the device is built around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 and NXP’s RT600 processors, featuring dual micro-LED displays delivering 1500 nits of brightness.
Sporting a single 12MP Sony IMX681 camera sensor, which captures a 109° field of view via its f/2.25 aperture, promising low-light HDR and digital video stabilization.
Through both voice prompts (“Hey Rokid!”) and pressing the right-mounted shutter button, users can shoot photos in multiple formats—3:4 at 1,200p, 9:16 at 900p, and 4:3 at 680p—and video in 3:4 at 1,800 × 2,400, 9:16 at 1,350 × 2,400, and 4:3 at 2,400 × 1,800. Yes, it also has internal and external capture lights, which indicates when a user is recording.
Integrated audio comes via near-ear AAC speakers, also featuring a four mic array that boasts integrated noise reduction for wind noise.
As for battery life, Rokid Glasses feature a 210 mAh internal battery, which the company says will offer 8–10 hours of mixed use, 5–6 hours of music, 2 hours of always-on display, and 45 minutes of “intensive recording.” A 3,000 mAh charging case is available in some tiers, or as a stretch goal provided the campaign reaches $1 million.
What’s more, the 49 gram smart glasses also feature a magnetic clip-on frame design for prescription lenses, which Rokid is supplying in its $519 backer tier.
We haven’t gone hands-on yet, although Tyriel Wood previewed an early unit (seen below) that suggests Rokid Glasses are indeed the real deal. As it is, Rokid is an established name in AR, having delivered multiple devices over the years following its founding in 2014.
Notably, shipping for Rokid Glasses is estimated for November 2025, which could leave some space before year’s end for other creators to announce their own competitors in the space.
Events to watch out for include is a rumored follow-up to Samsung Unpacked (reportedly on September 29th) and Meta Connect (September 17th). Its uncertain when Google and its eyewear partners hope to unveil the first slate of Android XR glasses, coming from Warby Parker, South Korea’s Gentle Monster, and ostensibly Google themselves.
In the meantime, you can learn more about Rokid Glasses over on the Kickstarter campaign, which goes until October 10th.
,