Jio made a series of announcements at today’s AGM meeting that showcased why the company was raising all this capital, none of which were more ‘bizzare’ than the Jio Glass. Taking a page out of its newest partner’s book, the company announced Jio Glass, a way to ‘live’ the internet, instead of surfing it.
These augment reality glasses can be connected to your phone through a wire, upon which the user will gain access to 25 different apps and enter the world of internet in a VR like scenario. What’s better, contrary to Google glass, Jio’s device actually looks pretty sleek and will not invite bullies to make fun of you, which is a win-win scenario.
The demo showcased the power of the glasses, where the wearer was interacting with his colleagues who were on the glass as well. In a holographic video conference, the demonstrator was able to either see the video participants in 3D, appearing in a digital avatar that resembles the owner of the glasses, or 2D, much like a normal video call which appears as a pop up on the screen.
Moreover, presenters were able to project diagrams and perform animations during the call, with a seamless interface that has the potential to change how presentations work.
If you thought that was impressive, wait till the glasses take you to a tour of the Taj Mahal from the comfort of your home. Using the glasses, you can visit real life places and ‘travel’ while sitting in your living room. From the looks of it, the feature looks to be more than a mere background change and can revolutionize the way we teach our children geography.
“Jio Glass is making teachers and students come together in 3D virtual rooms and conduct holographic classes through our Jio Mixed Reality cloud in real-time. With JioGlass, the traditional way of learning Geography will now be History”, said Akash Ambani, Director at Reliance Jio.
But whether this experiment with glasses goes far enough remains to be seen. After all Google, Jio’s latest investor, too tried its hands at similar tech eyewear and failed miserably at that attempt. Microsoft’s Hololens, though futuristic, couldn’t take off either. But the one thing going for Jio Glass, is perhaps the market where it is launching. India is a vast market, and has a gargantuan internet user base, the size of which is much larger than the entire population of United States. Thus Jio Glass, if played right, could actually become the technology success that the eyewear industry has so desperately waited for.
There is no official word on availability yet, so we will have to wait for that. But the company is inviting developers to start building apps and monetizing them right away, starting today.
