Beijing smart glasses maker eyes global market

Beijing Shingyun Technology Co Ltd, developer of the world's lightest 3-D smart glasses, is working on an improved version of the virtual reality product as it steps up its globalization pace, said Wang Hongliang, the company's chief executive.

"The next-generation product will be developed this year, and we will continue to improve our unique somatosensory operating control technology and expand the virtual screen, memory and storage space," said Wang.

For example, he said, a person wearing Shingyun's 3-D smart glasses weighing just 85 grams and watching a horror movie on a virtual 50-inch screen, will have a dramatic viewing experience with head and body movements.

Wang said the the second-generation glasses will feature 70-inch screens with a 4GB memory and a storage space of 128GB. Current models come with 50-inch screens, 2GB memory and 64GB storage space.

The company is also focusing on global expansion. "We will step up our globalization pace in 2016 with business cooperation," said Wang.

Shingyun will team up with New York-based Kickstarter, the world's largest funding platform for creative projects, to sell its products.

It is also seeking collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab and the United States aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp.

The company has already completed venture capital financing and series-A financing is underway.

"We are preparing for listing at the National Equities Exchange and Quotations for financing," said Wang.

The bourse is China's third national equity exchange and is popular among micro, small and medium-sized firms.

Beijing-based Junda Capital is one of the first investors in the company. "We are investing in the virtual and augmented reality sector because it has entered a golden period," said Song Qingsong, founding partner at Junda Capital.

Virtual reality replicates an environment that simulates a physical presence in a real or imagined world, allowing the user to interact.

Augmented reality is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. Smart glasses and helmets can be products of AR and VR application.

According to Song, the mobile sector is already mature and there will not be any big changes. Instead, smart glasses with virtual reality and augmented reality technology will have big innovation and influence people's life.

Song added the supply chain for smart glasses sector also become mature. There are excellent chip, sensor and battery companies, which contribute to the rapid development of smart glasses.

"We invested in Shingyun because of its somatosensory operating control technology and a good management team led by Wang," said Song.