Text | Zheng Cancheng
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36氪 was informed that the AR smart glasses brand INMO “Yingmu Technology” has completed a round of financing of nearly 10 million US dollars. This round of financing was exclusively invested by Zhiwen Group, and Mumian Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. Previously, INMO “Yingmu Technology” has received a total of more than 100 million yuan in investment from Matrix Partners, Eagle Fund, Sanqi Mutual Entertainment and other institutions. It is reported that this round of financing will be used for the construction of INMO’s content ecosystem, and Zhiwen Group will boost the development of INMO’s social entertainment content.
Founded in 2020, INMO “Yingmu Technology” is a company that has been tracking and reporting for a long time. Its main product, INMO Air, is the consumer-grade AR (augmented reality) glasses released in July last year. Last month, INMO Air completed mass production and officially entered the delivery stage. Currently, INMO Air priced at 2,999 yuan can be seen on the shelves of Jingdong Mall.
“Since the launch of JD.com on April 26, INMO Air has long ranked first in the sales list of smart devices in JD.com. The brand named ‘INMO Planet’ operates the ‘metaverse life’ that young people yearn for, especially attracting The attention of users in the Z era.” Lu Yifei, co-founder of INMO Film Technology, told 36氪. Recently, INMO Air appeared on Youku Video and Dragon TV’s hit drama “Please call me the director” has become a hot topic, adding more heat to the “metaverse life” created by AR.
INMO Air navigation interface, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
The technical exploration of AR glasses is still developing, and the difficulty is to find a balance between computing power and power consumption. This is because when the software has higher requirements for image processing and data transmission, the power consumption is higher and the battery life is higher, which tends to thicken and increase the size and weight of the glasses. However, as a single product with high aesthetics and convenience, glasses themselves need to achieve more and more powerful functions while meeting their light and thin requirements. This is the direction that optical display and other technologies are constantly pursuing.
At present, the existing AR products on the market usually develop towards both ends of the above-mentioned balance. One is to achieve more functions, it is equipped with a high-weight battery, and the product is designed as a helmet that cannot meet daily wear; the other is to make the glasses lighter, resulting in an overly closed system, which can only achieve very few functions and lack of battery life. And so on – the balance point of the balance has not yet been found.
INMO Air product map, courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
INMO Air is not the first AR glasses on the market, but the product form and performance have been approaching the balance point.
First of all, in terms of appearance, INMO Air weighs only more than 70 grams, adopts a wireless design, and looks similar to ordinary glasses. Lv Yifei told 36氪 that, similar to the power consumption control of components by mobile phone terminals, in order to achieve more powerful functions in a small space and limited weight, INMO conducts independent research and development for each component, in the structure ID, software and hardware, system. A series of innovative designs have been carried out in terms of driving and other aspects, and the power consumption control has been achieved to the extreme. At present, INMO Air can achieve up to 5.5 hours of continuous use, which can already meet the daily needs of ordinary users.
INMO Air product map, courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
Secondly, from a technical point of view, the thickness of the waveguide sheet, the core component of INMO Air used for AR display, is only 1.5mm, which is lower than 2mm commonly used in the industry. This technological breakthrough benefits from the vertical array optical waveguide technology pioneered by INMO “Yingmu Technology”. , this technology forms a 60-inch AR virtual screen in front of the eyes, and the screen is transparent, and the line of sight is completely unobstructed from the inside to the outside, and it is almost impossible to see that it is a “black technology” glasses when looking from the outside to the inside.
INMO Air wearing effect, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
Better technical implementation further creates conditions for exploring the life of the metaverse. No matter INMO Air supports various scenarios such as chasing dramas and short videos, real-time message reminders, speech prompting, video recording and other scenarios, INMO Air can give users to Novelty experience.
INMO Air virtual screen, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
INMO Air virtual screen, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
INMO Air virtual screen, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
INMO Air virtual screen, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
INMO Air virtual screen, photo courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
Third, the system IMOS carried by INMO Air is deeply tailored based on the Android system. In addition to the applications developed by INMO, a large number of third-party Android applications can also be used by users. This allows INMO Air to include more applications and transfer applications originally used in other terminals to AR glasses, further broadening the practicality and playability.
When the ease of use of a product becomes prominent, it provides a stepping stone for further market acceptance. And when more and more cool young people are willing to bring this “sunglasses” into the metaverse, AR glasses will no longer be limited to a fashion accessory, but will become the “next generation mobile terminal”.
INMO Air product map, courtesy of “Yingmu Technology”
In this regard, Lu Yifei also told 36氪 that INMO Air itself can be used independently, but when the AR ecosystem is yet to be improved, most third-party applications still cannot get rid of mobile phone use. This sense of leverage also helps to accelerate the penetration of the AR market, because the huge traffic entrance behind the mobile terminal provides a springboard for early technology to enter the market.
At the same time, compared with mobile phone manufacturers reconfiguring their own terminals, the advantage of the new brand is that there is no historical burden, which is another possibility for AR glasses to develop into a new traffic portal.
In the future, INMO “Yingmu Technology” will also continue to optimize from the software, hardware and system levels. At the functional application level, INMO “Yingmu Technology” will integrate more rich functions and content into AR glasses in addition to the current functional scenarios such as entertainment and leisure and business office.
In addition, Zhiwen Group’s capital blessing will also help INMO to build a richer content ecology, especially in the field of social entertainment, as shown in the social game “Pokemon GO”, which will organically connect people’s life and entertainment scenes. As a bridge between virtual and reality, AR creates a parallel world that can be viewed, played, and available for users.
Investor’s point of view
Wang Li, CEO of Zhiwen Group, said: “INMO Air’s AR smart glasses INMO Air is currently the product closest to consumers’ expectations. Its small and lightweight appearance can penetrate into all aspects of people’s life and work. Users are truly immersed in a world where virtual and reality merged, which previously only existed in movies.
At present, it is a long-term trend for users’ screen consumption time to shift from mobile terminals to new computing platforms along with technological development. Therefore, the development and innovation of XR and related technology fields will fundamentally enhance the experience of open social. Although the technology is still in its infancy, AR glasses may lead to a new way of entertainment, socialization and work for young people in the Z era in the future. To open the door to the Metaverse, INMO Air may be the key “key”.
As a leading company with more than ten years of experience in the field of social entertainment, helping hundreds of millions of users to discover new friends, expand social relationships and establish effective interactions every month is our core value. Zhiwen Group looks forward to meeting the social needs of users more effectively with the help of technological changes. ”
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