Lenovo announced a sleek and lightweight new pair of augmented reality smart glasses called the ThinkReality A3 at the Consumer Electronics Show Sunday.

The new glasses can connect to a personal computer or a Motorola phone via a Universal Serial Bus Type-C cable and are designed for use by enterprise customers on factory floors or in the office.

Powered by the Qualcomm XR1 platform, the A3 smart glasses are designed to fit like a pair of sunglasses and can be enhanced with industrial frame options for durable use.

They also feature 1080p displays that can present the user up to five virtual displays at a time and an 8-megapixel camera provides 1080p video capability for remote expert use cases, while dual fish-eye cameras deliver room-scale tracking.

“The A3 is a next-generation augmented reality solution – light, powerful and versatile. The smart glasses are part of a comprehensive integrated digital solution from Lenovo that includes the advanced AR device, ThinkReality software and Motorola mobile phones,” said Jon Pershke, Lenovo vice president of Strategy and Emerging Business. “Whether working in virtual spaces or supporting remote assistance, the ThinkReality A3 enhances workers’ abilities to do more wherever they are.”

As a platform, the ThinkReality A3 can be used both in the office in front of a computer and on the factory floor as a mobile device. As a result, it can be tethered to select Motorola smartphones for hands-free, AR-supported tasks in work environments.

For this purpose, Lenovo released the Industrial Edition of the ThinkReality software platform that allows workers to tether the smart glasses that powers remote assistance for field workers to speak directly to operators sitting in front of computers. Using cameras in the glasses, experts can see what the workers and techs can see and provide direct assistance.

Furthermore, knowledge bases and manuals can be stored in the tethered devices that can be called up by workers can be viewed using the AR devices using voice commands hands-free by workers further enhancing safety.

This enables guided workflows and 3D visualization for industrial workers to increase productivity and safety while decreasing error rates in daily tasks by putting expert knowledge in their hands by doing away with cumbersome manuals and “heads-down” displays – such as smartphones – and using “heads up displays” such as the smart glasses instead which use their vision to keep their eyes on task.

The Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses will become available in select markets worldwide beginning in mid-2021.

Photo: Lenovo