China’s Alibaba has launched its new Quark artificial intelligence glasses in China in a bid to take on Meta’s dominance in the wearable AI accessory space. The new glasses are integrated with the Qwen AI model and users can talk to the AI anytime by saying “Hello Qwen” or via the touch controls.
Unlike the Meta glasses, which feature a sunglasses like design, the Quark look more like regular eyewear. The Quark glasses come in three variants, all of which are powered by Qwen AI. The company claims that the new glasses provide intelligent, hands free assistance for everyday life, combining voice and vision to enable real time AI interactions.
What can Alibaba Quark AI glasses do?
Alibaba says that its new AI glasses are capable of running instant price recognition, on the go translation, near eye navigation, AI generated meeting notes and even AI powered search in both text and images.
The new glasses can also set reminders for users, act as a live teleprompter and are context aware enough to find nearby spots and manage schedules. The glasses are also deeply integrated with Alibaba‘s ecosystem in China like Alipay, Amap, Taobao, Fliggy and Chinese music streaming platforms like QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music.
The company claims that the Quark AI glasses can offer a unified experience across shopping, travel, payments, music and productivity.
The glasses also support the Model Context Protocol (MCP), meaning third party developers will be able to build for the platform.
Quark glasses price
The Quark glasses come in two variants: the flagship S1 model and a G1 model.
The Quark glasses S1 are priced at ¥3,799 ($537) and are powered by the Snapdragon AR1 processor along with an unnamed co processor. They also come with a swappable dual system which the company says can deliver 24 hours of battery life.
The S1 features a dual micro OLED display and has a 0.6 second instant photo capture rate. They can record up to 3K video and there is also an option of enhancing the footage using AI in 4K.
As for the G1, they are priced at ¥1,899 ($268) and weigh just 40 grams. The entry level glasses lack many of the key features like display, audio, imaging and AI capabilities.
