What you need to know
- HTC debuted its new AI-driven smart glasses, the VIVE Eagle, which lets users control them fully with their voices.
- Users can capture photos, videos, and more with the VIVE Eagle's 12MP ultra-wide camera, while also listening to music with rich sound.
- The VIVE Eagle sports a "premium" open-ear design that lets users adjust its temples and nosepads for a comfortable fit.
- The glasses are available for pre-order in Taiwan for NT$15,600 (~$518).
While HTC has stepped into VR headsets, the company is debuting something we didn't expect: AI smart glasses.
HTC is diving headfirst into the world of smart glasses with the likes of Meta and future players, such as Samsung and Google, with the VIVE Eagle. Launched earlier this morning (Aug 14), HTC highlights the VIVE Eagle as "AI-driven wearable eyewear." Since this is—let's say—an alternate route from HTC's VR headsets, the company's senior vice president, Chris Huang, said, “VIVE Eagle represents HTC’s newest exploration in the realm of intelligent living and personal wearables."
The VIVE Eagle touts a "premium design" at a lightweight 49 grams. HTC states users can alter its comfort by adjusting its nosepads and contoured temples for a fit that'll last you all day. Additionally, the post highlights the inclusion of ZEISS sun lenses, which provide UV protection "without compromising optical clarity."
Packed into the VIVE Eagle is voice-activated AI with support for Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT. HTC states its AI support can help users capture life's moments with a simple phrase: "Hey VIVE, take a photo." The VIVE Eagle will capture your photos using its 12MP ultra-wide camera, thanks to VIVE AI.
Recording is another capability of the VIVE Eagle. The press release states users can ask their glasses to record a reminder, take notes, and more just by using their voices.
Music & Prviacy
Other than capturing memories, HTC states its newest AI glasses can even carry your favorite tracks for you. The post highlights the VIVE Eagle's open-ear design with "large acoustic drivers and virtual bass" for richer audio. The company also states the glasses' audio capabilities help to minimize sound leakage, meaning you (hopefully) won't disturb others around you. While out, the VIVE Eagle's speakers can deliver your music in full volume; however, you should still have the awareness to understand what's happening around you.
Speaking of staying a little private, the glasses reportedly sport AES-256 encryption to safeguard your data stored locally within the device. More importantly, HTC says the content you capture with the VIVE Eagle is "never uploaded, tracked, or used for AI model training."
Some smaller AI specifications state the VIVE Eagle supports real-time translation for 13 languages. The content the glasses capture via the cameras is then translated and fed to the user through its speakers. HTC states its support encompasses Arabic, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Thai, Turkish.
Taiwan Pre-orders
While staying lightweight, the VIVE Eagle contains a 235mAh battery with up to 36 hours of standby time. This battery is also said to last roughly 4.5 hours for continuous music playback purposes. In 10 minutes, the glasses are estimated to reach 50% charge.
The HTC VIVE Eagle glasses are available today (Aug 14) for consumers in Taiwan for NT$15,600 (~$518). Consumers in the region will find it in Berry, Coffee, Grey, and Black. At the moment, there's no word on whether or not global users will be able to get their hands on the VIVE Eagle.
