The next generation of ‘XR’ glasses has arrived – and could save holidaymakers everywhere

Not everyone is as bad as the British at learning other languages, but no one can learn them all.

Until now. Kind of.

TCL has unveiled new XR – extended reality – digital-display glasses that translate multiple foreign languages in real time, projecting the text in the user’s language through a microLED display that hovers in front of both eyes, creating a unified screen.

The RayNeo X2 screen can also display messages and incoming calls, while the glasses also serve as a speaker, enabling the wearer to listen to music, and a camera, sending stills and videos taken from the glasses to a phone.

And for the more fashion-conscious wearer, Google Glass this is not. Although still not the most subtle of wearable tech, the current TCL iteration takes the form of a very chunky pair of hipster-style frames – think Ray-Bans on steroids. 

In addition, they also function as plain old glasses, enabling wearers to fit them with their current prescription.

And for the gamer or mobile film buff, TCL’s new NXTWEAR S XR glasses offer a wearable display with an equivalent 130 inch HD screen that appears four metres away from the wearer – essentially putting a TV in the user’s field of view.

An acoustic phase cancellation mode helps drown out background noise while using the glasses in public – although the display model mirrors a pair of sunglasses, so the dream of watching a movie while in a meeting may not be quite alive yet.

Expected to go on sale this spring, they will be available for $499 (£420). The RayNeo X2 will be available to developers shortly, and are expected to go on sale later in the year.

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