Augmented Reality: Nreal is bringing AR glasses for everyone to retail

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Steffen Henssler knows what it means to cook on TV.

Cameras, spotlights, stressed production managers.

The TV chef is used to all of this.

But this time everything was different.

This time he had to force himself into a tight full body suit covered with sensors.

A frame fixed a smartphone camera just a few centimeters in front of his face.

Because Henssler shouldn't just be on the screen.

He should be in mixed reality.

Shown in augmented reality glasses (AR).

To do this, Henssler had to get a virtual clone - and the whole of it had to be virtually scanned.

With Henssler, the mobile communications group Vodafone is launching its new Giga AR platform, which will in future be used to find applications that complement our reality with virtual representations.

The cooking app starts with Henssler and recipes from Kitchen Stories.

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If you want to see the chef at work in three dimensions from a distance, you need AR glasses.

Vodafone has teamed up with the Chinese start-up Nreal and is bringing the first AR glasses for private users to Germany.

Deutsche Telekom is also preparing a corresponding offer together with Nreal.

WELT has already been able to test the glasses.

While private users have long been able to choose between different virtual reality glasses (VR), augmented reality glasses have so far only been reserved for professional users.

VR glasses are heavy and large glasses that put their wearers in games and environments in which they are completely isolated from the actual reality around them.

VR glasses are available from Oculus, Sony, HTC (Vive) and HP, for example.

In contrast to this, AR glasses are transparent.

Users see their surroundings, while virtual objects are displayed and refer to the real environment.

The Nreal Light is the first pair of glasses to come close to the size of ordinary glasses

Source: Nreal

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Technical employees who are currently repairing a machine can, for example, show instructions.

Such glasses as for example the Hololens from Microsoft or the Magic Leap cost 2,000 to 3,000 euros.

Although they are more subtle than VR glasses, they still have massive frames.

The Nreal Light has nothing to do with these professional glasses.

The mobile operators have not yet published their prices, but according to information from WELT, the glasses will cost less than 700 euros.

Vodafone and Telekom are preparing packages together with a smartphone and are likely to sell the devices at a discount if they have a mobile phone contract.

For example, Vodafone wants to start selling the glasses together with the Oppo Find X3 Pro smartphone in the more expensive mobile phone tariffs for one euro.

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The market for VR and AR glasses is still small.

Experts don't expect a breakthrough until they reach the size of normal glasses.

The Nreal Light is actually the first pair of glasses to approach this size.

It weighs only 106 grams, although it has two microphones and loudspeakers as well as cameras and some sensors installed in order to be able to record the position of the glasses wearer in the room.

Corrective lenses can also be inserted on request.

The Nreal Light is connected to an Android smartphone via a cable.

From there it receives the electricity on the one hand, and the computing power on the other to be able to display virtual objects in three dimensions.

The glasses are not compatible with iPhones.

According to reports, Apple is working on its own AR glasses.

The darker the environment, the better the display

In the test, the Nreal Light was much more comfortable to wear than VR glasses over a longer period of time.

If the glasses are connected to the smartphone, Nreal's user interface Nebula starts automatically with an overview of the installed apps.

The selection is currently not that great.

The Google applications Chrome, Maps, Photos and YouTube are available.

But like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, they are only shown as two-dimensional displays.

The surface is operated via the smartphone, which then functions as a laser pointer.

If the pointer is pointed at an app icon, the application can be opened with a tap of the finger on the display.

The applications can then be freely placed in the room and enlarged or reduced.

This has nothing to do with augmented reality, but it is already impressive.

Because the glasses have a full HD resolution on each side and display both the text in the browser and films on YouTube accordingly sharp, bright and with strong colors. At the same time, you can also see your surroundings as if you were wearing sunglasses see.

The darker the environment, the better the representation in the glasses.

However, the field of view of the displays is limited to 52 degrees.

That is not a lot and means that displays should not be pulled open too much because they will then be cut off at the edges.

With the glasses you can create the impression that you are watching videos on a television with a diagonal of two meters - and that's fun.

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However, since the glasses get their power from the smartphone, the battery level drops quickly there.

But it's enough for a two-hour film.

After a few minutes, the glasses also get warm, but not nearly as uncomfortable as you know from some VR glasses.

In the test, the glasses switched off automatically when the battery level dropped to 30 percent.

With the Nreal, even three apps can be opened at the same time and distributed accordingly in the room.

With their sensors and cameras, the glasses remember the location of the displays in the room so that they stay in their place, even if, for example, you leave the room and come back again.

The glasses also have a projection mode in which the smartphone applications are simply mirrored.

This means that apps that have not been specially adapted for the glasses, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, can also be used.

A few apps in the Nebula view are marked with "MR", which stands for Mixed Reality.

It doesn't always have to be meant that way, but at least it becomes three-dimensional there.

In the Spatial application, you can meet other users as an avatar in virtual rooms and work on joint projects.

The application is also available for other AR and VR glasses.

Deutsche Telekom has shown an application in the past where users can look at a dragon's den and walk around it.

Even a flying dragon appears in the scene.

The Tagesschau 2025, which was originally designed for tablets, has also been adapted for Nreal.

There a news anchor appears in 3D as a demo.

The MR apps also include Vodafone's Giga AR, of course.

In fact, the cooking application it contains is suitable for use in the kitchen because it can be controlled with just a glance if you wish, so that you don't even have to touch the smartphone.

If the gaze lingers a little longer on a button, it is pressed.

For example, the cooking video can be paused.

It gets really interesting when celebrity chef Henssler suddenly jumps out of the video, hovers in three dimensions in front of you and gives additional tips.

If you move around him, he even follows you with his gaze and turns your head - a little magical moment.

But more of it is needed to make augmented reality a mass market.

As our test shows, the Nreal has the technical equipment for this.

Now all you need is the applications.