[Global Times Technology News Reporter Wang Nan]

"Without even needing a phone, just wearing a bracelet allows for real-time translation and also monitors heart rate. This is truly practical!" On March 14th, at the AWE2026 exhibition in Shanghai, Mr. Zhang, an audience member experiencing the AI wearable device, told the reporter. At this exhibition, AI wearable devices became the absolute focus. Various forms such as rings, glasses, and headphones were showcased together. Brands like Zhiwei, XREAL, and Alibaba Qianwan all presented their cutting-edge new products, marking that the industry has completely shaken off its "futuristic attribute", moving from merely being a health record or decorative function to full-scene intelligent interaction and professional services. An industry battle over "portable intelligent entry" has officially begun.

During this year's AWE exhibition, the reporter observed that the AI wearable device booths all witnessed a highly popular scene of limited access experiences. The queue for trying on the Alibaba Qianwan AI glasses G1 was continuous, and in the Zuiwei exhibition area, the Glow AI ring was also crowded to the point of being unable to move. The exhibition booths of brands such as Xiaodu, XREAL, and Minimax were also extremely popular, reflecting the strong market demand for AI wearable devices.

Behind the industry boom lies the dual support of technological breakthroughs and cost reduction. Pan Zhidong, the founder and CEO of Atomic El, said in an interview with the media: "2025 will be the first year of AI hardware. The maturity of open-source large models like DeepSeek has significantly reduced the cost of edge AI computing power; technological breakthroughs in sensors have enabled miniaturization of devices, and advancements in manufacturing processes have made the mass production of precision materials possible." He admitted that currently, at half the cost of two years ago, achieving three times the performance of the past is a historic time window for the explosion of AI wearable devices.

The data confirms the explosive growth of the industry. According to the data released by Omdia (a global technology market research institution), the global shipment of AI glasses will reach 8.7 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 322%. Among them, the market share in China will be 10.9%. The global market size of wearable devices reached 179.8 billion US dollars in 2024 and is expected to exceed 995.2 billion US dollars in 2034, revealing a trillion-dollar market blue ocean.

At this year's AWE, various brands have made differentiated layouts, promoting the development of AI wearable devices towards specialization and full-scenario integration. Pan Zhidong, the president of the global AI hardware business group of Zhiyi, stated at the new product launch event: "We adhere to the concept that 'all hardware deserves to be re-designed with AI'. We focus on addressing users' pain points, making AI truly serve humans." The Glow AI ring, which was released by them, is the world's first fingertip AI electrocardiogram analysis + heart rate and blood oxygen analysis ring. With a weight of 3.8 grams and a thickness of 2.5mm, it enables seamless wearing. Relying on the self-developed AI large model and the algorithm jointly developed with Tsinghua University, it achieves 24-hour high-precision health monitoring. The signing amount at the event directly exceeded 10 million yuan.