Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 448: The boom caused by AI glasses

At the end of December, Shenzhen already had some signs of winter, with the temperature around 10 degrees Celsius. Sometimes when the weather was good during the day, the temperature would be over 20 degrees Celsius. The overall temperature was still relatively pleasant, neither cold nor hot.

A long-sleeved shirt and a thin jacket are enough.

Of course, many young girls who love beauty still wear short skirts and stockings, and some even go bare-legged without stockings, as if it is still summer.

So much so that you can see people wearing clothes suitable for spring, summer, autumn and winter at the same time on the streets: some wear thick coats, some wear long sleeves for spring and autumn, and some simply wear cool summer clothes. You can see all kinds of clothes.

When people who come to Shenzhen for the first time see the clothes people wear on the streets, they will be confused for a moment: Is it winter or summer?

Lin Yaxian, wearing a new Chinese-style Hanfu dress, sat in the front row at the bottom of the venue, watching Xu Shenxue hosting the press conference on the stage.

She has always preferred to attend press conferences hosted by Xu Shenxue, since the two of them first met.

She liked watching him talk about various advanced product technologies on the stage and depict the future dreams of mankind.

As for the specific content of the press conference, she didn't really care!

Lin Yaxian didn't care, but others did... Many high-tech industry insiders and media reporters at the press conference all looked at the new products introduced by Xu Shenxue with wide eyes.

Yun Robot B3 is the third-generation flagship robot launched by Zhiyun Group.

Since the release of the intelligent robot last winter, Zhiyun Group has launched a number of robots with different price positioning.

At the press conference last winter, Yun Robot A1 was introduced, a wheeled model priced at more than yuan. This model did not sell well, and even after the price was reduced to more than yuan, there was still no sales volume, and it accounted for a relatively low proportion in the entire series... Of course, there are still consumers who like this wheeled robot, especially as a household robot... It doesn’t have any other advantages, but it has a long battery life!
Yun Robot B1, a bipedal model, is priced at over yuan. This model is the main model. Its performance and price are relatively suitable, and the bipedal model perfectly meets people's positioning of robots. This model sold very well when it was launched. Later, the price was gradually reduced. Now it can be purchased for yuan, and its sales are very high.

The Yun Robot B1 model is currently the main sales model of Zhiyun's robot business, accounting for more than half of the sales and profits of the entire robot business.

At the press conference this summer, Zhiyun Group launched the Yun Robot B2 bipedal flagship, with a starting price of more than yuan... This is a top-level flagship model that also supports personalized customization, including silicone skin, etc. Customized styles are more expensive, and it takes several months to get the goods after placing an order. This seems high-end, but the sales volume is very low.

At the same time, the Yun Robot C6 was also launched, an entry-level wheeled model priced at RMB .

Yun Robot C7, an entry-level bipedal robot, is priced at over RMB .

The above two models are both entry-level models, with short battery life, average power system, and average computing power, but they have all the necessary functions, and their performance can meet basic household use. Their sales have been very good after they were launched, accounting for the majority of sales, but because of their relatively low price, their sales are still not as good as those of Type B.

It is worth noting that among these two entry-level models, the sales of the wheeled model are not much different from those of the bipedal model.

Generally, consumers who purchase entry-level products are looking for practicality. Although the wheeled models may not look sci-fi enough and cannot go up and down stairs or perform difficult movements, they have good battery life and greater stability. In actual use, they are very convenient for home use.

As for the 150,000 yuan bipedal model, to be honest, the battery life is relatively poor, and cost constraints also result in the robot's computing power being insufficient, so it looks a bit silly and not very practical... It just looks good, and can go up and down stairs, so it's more useful for outdoor use.

The sales of these two models are basically half and half, and there are people who can choose either one.

In addition, there are larger intelligent robots, the Yun Robot D quadruped series and the Yun Robot E hexapod series. Both of these are special-purpose robots with a starting price of one million yuan, and high-configuration models can even reach two to three million yuan.

The appearance of these two robots is not fancy, and they are even a bit ugly, but their mechanical feet and arms, battery life, and power systems are all of higher specifications.

These two products are not conventional civilian consumer products, but are generally used for special operations or industrial needs. For this reason, Zhiyun Group also provides a variety of robotic arm function extensions for these two robots to meet the needs of many special operations.

Model A1, Model B1, Model B2, Model C6 and Model C7, as well as Model D and Model E. These also constitute the robot models currently sold by Zhiyun Group: covering wheeled, bipedal, quadrupedal, and hexapodal; prices range from more than to million.

However, technology is also continuing to develop. In the past year, Zhiyun Group has made many advances in many hardware aspects and artificial intelligence algorithms. In the early stages of market development, Zhiyun Group hopes to meet and stimulate the market by launching more models of robots.

Therefore, after the summer press conference, a new robot was released at the winter press conference: Yun Robot B3.

The third-generation bipedal high-end robot adopts many new technologies and has undergone significant upgrades in both hardware and software.

At the same time, the selling price is set at 1 yuan. At a glance, it is clear that this price is used to replace the ecological niche of the B1 model and continue the positioning of the B bipedal high-end robot.

At the same time, in order to clarify the ecological positioning of the B series as a high-end volume robot and avoid conflicts with the positioning of top flagship robots such as the B2, the subsequent models of the B2 model will have a new series, the Yun Robot X, which will be released at the summer conference in April next year.

The B series will continue to be updated and promoted as the core flagship model!
Yun Robot B3 is responsible for this important task!

After Xu Shenxue introduced the B3 model on the stage, he also introduced the Yun Robot A3, which is priced at yuan.

Although the sales of the A series high-end wheeled models are not very good, in order to enrich the product line, some consumers do have demand for them... More importantly, the A series is based on the B series, with a new wheeled platform, which does not require too much R&D investment, so they will continue to be developed.

After the introduction of the two robots, the release of the robots was completed.

Next, Xu Shenxue introduced some other ecological products, such as new smart TVs, sweeping robots and the like. If you say they are not important, they can add up to several billion dollars in revenue; if you say they are important, they are just that for Zhiyun Group.

These general ecological products are usually just used to make up the numbers in Zhiyun Group's press conferences.

But after introducing these ordinary ecological products, the AI ​​glasses introduced by Xu Shenxue were different.

As a brand-new product and an important carrier of artificial intelligence technology, especially large-scale generative AI technology, Xu Shenxue and Zhiyun Group attach great importance to the AI ​​glasses project!

How much money is made is secondary. The main purpose is to further promote the application of artificial intelligence technology in the hardware field. AI glasses are a relatively low-cost technology application solution that Zhiyun Group has found and that people can afford.

Artificial intelligence technology is the core technology and advantageous technology of Zhiyun Group. Many hardware products and software Internet businesses are based on artificial intelligence technology.

Therefore, Zhiyun Group attaches more importance to the development and promotion of artificial intelligence technology than any other company in the world.

But before that, artificial intelligence technology was still too far away for ordinary people... People could only access and feel deeply about three major categories of products: Yun AI in the form of Internet services and GTAI2, two large-scale generative AIs.

Large-scale generative AI is a type of Internet service. Previously, it was mainly used on mobile phones or PCs to generate text, images, questions and answers, search, and translation. It seems good at first glance, but it just feels so-so to people and has not really changed people’s lifestyles.

Although Yun AI has also been exposed to some smart terminal hardware products, it is mainly used as a voice assistant and its actual usefulness is very general. Compared with the Xiaoyun voice assistant released by Zhiyun Group in the past, there is not much difference in the user experience.

The second is the autonomous driving technology of Hailan Automobile. The assisted driving of other manufacturers, including the EYEQ platform of Zhiyun Group's external supplier, are all based on ordinary big data, but the core underlying technology of Hailan Automobile's autonomous driving technology is artificial intelligence technology.

This is also the core reason why other manufacturers can only barely achieve L3 level after working hard, but Hailan Automobile's advanced intelligent assisted driving function 4.0 can indeed achieve L4 level.

But HaiLan cars are also very expensive, with a starting price of more than 4 yuan in China... HaiLan cars have been launched and sold for many years, but most ordinary people have not experienced the ultimate feeling brought by HaiLan cars' L level highly intelligent autonomous driving. At most, they have just watched the video.

The last major category of products is the intelligent robots released by Zhiyun Group. This is really amazing. It can be said to be one of the best combinations of hardware and artificial intelligence technology. Various videos of intelligent robots on the Internet are very popular.

But Zhiyun Yun Robot is not cheap. Even the cheapest wheeled intelligent robot, such as C6, starts at RMB , while the bipedal model costs RMB . This price is already comparable to that of an ordinary family's car.

However, sedans are needed by most families, and are even a necessity for some families, so they will still buy them even though they are expensive.

Smart robots are different. This thing is not an urgent need, at least not at present... It is more like a big toy, a luxury product, or a human substitute for some wealthy families.

Tens of millions of cars priced over 100,000 yuan can be sold worldwide each year, but the sales of smart robots priced over 100,000 yuan are only a few hundred thousand units now, and most of the sales are concentrated in high-income families in developed and developing countries.

It can also be seen from this sales comparison that the current intelligent robot market is still in its early stages.

The above three categories of ordinary people can come into contact with and feel the products of artificial intelligence technology, and each has its own defects.

Zhiyun Group wants to further promote the application of artificial intelligence technology, so it is also looking for various ways to promote it.

AI glasses are an important carrier for Zhiyun Group to promote artificial intelligence technology, at least for now.

With a price tag of several thousand yuan, ordinary people can afford it; the built-in Yun AI interface can provide various translation, recognition search and other functions.

It is equivalent to putting a translation and search engine in front of users, making it more convenient for users to use.

Of course, in addition to promoting artificial intelligence technology, one of the goals is to make money by buying and selling hardware and providing software services.

The Yun AI networking service in the AI ​​glasses is not free. Zhiyun Group only provides one year of free service, and you have to renew it yourself after one year... Of course, if you don’t use the networking service, the AI ​​glasses also provide a common language translation function based on local computing power, but the accuracy is not that good and the supported language types are limited.

As Xu Shenxue continued to explain AI glasses on the stage, he officially announced the official product name of this product: Yun AIG.

The crowd in the audience couldn't remain calm!
Although the previous intelligent robot B3 was good in many ways, it had nothing to do with them. It had no competitive relationship and no ability to imitate and copy... Zhiyun Group's intelligent robot was a bugged product. The hardware was fine, but the artificial intelligence part really left other manufacturers with no solution. A year had passed, and other manufacturers couldn't even come up with a solution for an intelligent robot... There was no way, they couldn't even come up with the underlying artificial intelligence algorithm, so how could they have an intelligent robot... At most, they could just barely walk and perform some simple movements, but what was the use of such a robot?

It's useless!
Zhiyun Group's intelligent robots can do everything and do it very well. They can look after children, care for the elderly, sweep the floor and wash dishes, and can even assist in various tasks such as repairs. As long as there are clear instructions, it can help you work just like a human.

Look at the so-called robots made by other manufacturers. They can’t do anything and are just for show.

Therefore, Zhiyun Group’s intelligent robot business has no competitors, and manufacturers in the industry cannot even copy it.

Since you are not a competitor, I naturally won’t bother with you... Humph, your awesomeness is none of my business!
However, the AI ​​glasses in front of us really make many high-tech practitioners want to make one themselves.

Because from Xu Shenxue's introduction, the core of Yun AIG is Yun AI, and Yun AI has open commercial interfaces to the outside world. This means that in most countries in the world, any company or even individual can apply to purchase API interfaces and then call Yun AI services.

If... I make a similar pair of AR glasses and build in a Yun AI API interface, wouldn't I be able to make this kind of AI glasses?

If you are not confident about Yun AI, you can also use the open source GTAI2 and deploy the generative artificial intelligence model yourself. The performance is slightly worse, but it can still be used.

The final product, even if the hardware and GTAI2 performance are worse, is still usable... If the price is cheaper, who dares to say that there is no market?
Zhiyun's Yun AIG is so expensive, with the announced starting price being 4999 yuan. If you make it yourself and sell it for two or three thousand, can you gain a part of the market?

There are many people who think so. Not to mention the people on the scene, many managers of high-tech companies who were watching the press conference via live webcast in other places, especially those of some companies that already have AR glasses projects, couldn't help swallowing their saliva after seeing Yun AIG.

Across the Pacific Ocean, Google Inc.

A group of Google executives stared at the big screen in front of them with their eyes wide open... On one side of the big screen, Xu Shenxue was still on the stage introducing the various features of Yun AI.

On one side of the screen is a CG picture of Yun AIG that was captured by Google staff from the video footage of the press conference.

“We can also make this AI glasses!”

“In terms of AR glasses technology, we are a pioneer and have accumulated a lot of technology and experience in the early stage. We can completely follow Zhiyun and build the interface of generative AI into AR glasses, and then make them into AI glasses mode!”

At this time, someone said: "It can definitely be done. There is no problem with the technology. However, our hardware technology reserves may not be so good. The glasses produced by Zhiyun use MicroLED plus binocular full-color diffraction optical waveguide technology. And judging from the display effect at the press conference, the technology is already very mature and the display effect is very good!"

"In our technical reserves, the diffractive optical waveguide technology only has binocular monochrome, that is, green, available, and there is no binocular full-color technology. In addition, we have not made any breakthroughs in MicroLED technology, so it is difficult to combine MicroLED display screens with binocular full-color diffractive optical waveguide technology!"

“If we can’t do this, the display effect of the AI ​​glasses we make will be much worse!”

"Of course, although there are technical difficulties, they are not unsolvable. After all, MicroLED screens are readily available, and we can work with suppliers to solve the problem. As for binocular full-color diffraction waveguide technology, there are currently no suppliers in this area, but we have sufficient technical reserves. If we are given some time, we can still work with the supply chain partners to produce it!"

At this time, the CEO sitting above spoke up: "So how long will it take?"

"If everything goes well, maybe a year will be enough!"

After the technical director finished speaking, he said silently in his heart: Everything went smoothly in the early stage!
As for the problems, he didn't say anything and no one asked... It's impossible to give a very accurate time frame for technical things. Sometimes, they just can't be done. It may not work in one year or even in ten years.

The Google CEO said, "Start the AI ​​glasses project now. I want to see the prototype within a year... within a year!"

The same situation is happening at the Fruit Company Headquarters and the Four-Star Company Headquarters.

Of course, these big companies have to save face and have brand baggage. The AI ​​glasses they want to develop are directly aimed at Yun AI of Zhiyun Group. At least the hardware level should be similar... They cannot produce a product that is obviously inferior to Zhiyun AI glasses. This will be a huge blow to the brand.

But other companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises or even start-ups, have little encouragement.

In particular, there are so many domestic companies producing various smart terminal products, and there are also a large number of manufacturers of AR glasses.

Although the AR glasses they have produced are not very good, they still exist. In fact, by taking advantage of the domestic supply chain, the domestic AR glasses manufacturers have produced quite good products.

It just has no market appeal, sales are not that good, and prices can’t be raised.

At this time, Zhiyun Group's AI glasses suddenly emerged, which allowed a large number of domestic technology companies with AR glasses business to see new opportunities.

Xu Shenxue's press conference has not yet ended, but many business leaders in China have already decided to develop AI glasses.

MicroLED plus binocular full-color diffraction optical waveguide technology is not easy to develop, and the technical difficulty is too high, but we still have to make such an awesome product.

I can also use a binocular monochromatic diffraction optical waveguide. If I want to reduce the cost, I can just use the monocular mode.

As for artificial intelligence, there is no need to worry about it. Some large companies still have burdens, or they would rather build their own GTAI2 model than use Yun AI's API interface for data security reasons, but a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in China do not have this concern.

Directly use Yun AI's API interface... In this way, no matter how big the hardware gap is, at least in the field of software application it will not be worse than Yun AIG.

Everyone uses the Yun AI interface, so what’s the difference?

Other core components are also available, even chips. Zhiyun Group's LC1 chip is often sold to the outside world. There is no problem with the upgrade components either. A number of domestic acoustic manufacturers can provide corresponding small groups.

Other sensors, such as ambient light sensors, gravity sensors, and distance sensors are a bit troublesome, but they are not impossible.

These things are very common in the field of smart devices, and many domestic supply chain companies are doing very well.

So, after searching the market, people found that the necessary hardware and software were all available...so making AI glasses similar to Yun AIG became a truly feasible solution.

As for the many problems such as poor display technology, short battery life, heavy weight, poor performance, etc.... these all exist, but they are not important.

The important thing is that Yun AI can be built in and then made into AI glasses mode to catch up with this new trend.

Someone once said that a pig can fly if it stands in the wind. What if you are that pig?

You would laugh so hard in your dreams!
So, in a small company more than ten kilometers away from the press conference, a middle-aged bald boss said to seven or eight technical backbones: "In half a month, at the latest, I want to see our AI glasses on the market!"

"Everyone, time is money!"

"Now Zhiyun has taken the lead in launching AI glasses. Such a large company has also developed AI glasses, which proves that AI glasses will inevitably become a huge outlet!"

"We don't ask for meat, or even soup. We just need to lick the bottom of the pot and our mouths will be filled with oil!"

"In the next period of time, those big companies will definitely start AI glasses projects one after another, but they are big companies with complicated procedures and it is difficult to turn around. It is estimated that they can't even set up a research and development framework in half a month or even a month. But we are different. We only have a few dozen people."

"Being small also has its advantages. We can turn around at any time and be flexible and do things right away!"

"Tomorrow, no, let's set up the project team tonight and start contacting our suppliers tonight. If the existing suppliers are not suitable, we will find new ones. We will try to come up with a preliminary plan within three days!"

“We will complete the testing and debugging within ten days, and then find a foundry to make a batch of prototypes. Half a month later, we will launch the AI ​​glasses to the market and try to seize this wave of market popularity!”

"In order to speed up the progress, we will adopt mature supply chain shelf products first, and the overall hardware design will continue to use our existing AR glasses!"

"However, our high-end AR glasses use the LC1 chip. The production of this chip is not high. In the short term, other large companies will definitely rush to buy it. We are small in size and may not be able to compete with those large companies. In order to be on the safe side, we also need to have a backup plan. We also need to prepare to replace the chip with the W series 805 chip. Although this chip has worse performance, it has lower power consumption and can be used barely."

"If the LC1 chip supply is sufficient in the future, we can also use the W805 chip to make a mid-range model and sell it for a few hundred yuan!"

"The display system uses our binocular monochrome diffraction waveguide technology solution. Although the pure optical display is a bit inferior, the most important thing in the early stage is speed. As long as it can be used, it's fine!"

"The rest of the frames and batteries are all readily available!"

“It’s all about speed!”

"As long as we seize this opportunity, I'll put it this way. When I change to Sea Blue SLC, you can change to Sea Blue SLMC. The prize money will definitely not disappoint you!"

"Also, in the next half month, overtime pay will be doubled. I will work with everyone, and I will personally handle API interface calls and operating system optimization!"

The boss was cheering for the team and rolled up his sleeves to get involved himself. Several key technical personnel below were also excited after hearing this!

Major overtime pay doubled!
As long as the money is in place, whatever you say is what matters...

(End of this chapter)