TechNode reports that Chinese artificial intelligence company iFLYTEK has introduced its latest innovation in wearable technology: a pair of AI glasses weighing just 40 grams that support real-time translation in 122 languages. The product was unveiled at the BEYOND Expo 2026 in Macao, an event themed “AI: Digital to Physical,” which drew nearly 800 international exhibitors and ran from May 27 to May 30, according to Xinhua. The expo is hosted by the Macao Technology General Association and has established itself as one of Asia’s premier showcases for applied technology innovation.
The AI glasses display translated content directly on the lenses, offering a seamless, hands-free experience for users engaged in cross-lingual communication. Lin Huijie, general manager of iFLYTEK’s Consumer Wearables Business, expressed the company’s ambition to collaborate with partners to establish industry standards for smart glasses, a signal that iFLYTEK sees this product category as a long-term platform rather than a one-off device launch.
(Related: Huawei Launches AI Glasses at 2,499 Yuan as China’s Wearable AI Race Heats Up)
Practical Applications and User Reactions
The practical utility of the AI glasses was immediately apparent to expo attendees. Stephen Wong, a participant at the event, shared his first-hand experience: “This is my first time wearing AI glasses. Products like this can make our business work more conveniently, and many negotiations and communications will become more direct.” The comment captures the core value proposition of the device: reducing the friction of cross-language communication in real-time business settings, from boardroom negotiations to factory floor interactions.
The 122-language capability is particularly significant for a Chinese company targeting global markets. iFLYTEK’s core competency in speech recognition and natural language processing, built over more than two decades, gives it a technical foundation that few competitors can match. The company’s speech recognition technology already powers a wide range of applications in China, from courtroom transcription to medical record dictation, and the AI glasses represent an attempt to bring that capability into a consumer-friendly wearable form factor.
Robotics and AI Hardware on Display
The BEYOND Expo also showcased other significant advances in AI-embedded hardware. Shenzhen-based Engine AI presented a bipedal general-purpose humanoid robot capable of running, dancing, and boxing, with full-sized models reaching speeds of 3 meters per second. Li Yang, head of marketing at Engine AI, noted that the expo highlighted the rapid technological iteration occurring across the robotics industry, with new capabilities being demonstrated at each successive event.
The juxtaposition of iFLYTEK’s lightweight wearable and Engine AI’s full-sized humanoid robot at the same expo illustrates the breadth of China’s AI hardware ecosystem. From devices small enough to wear on your face to machines capable of physical labor, Chinese companies are pushing the boundaries of what AI-embedded hardware can do, and doing so at a pace that is drawing international attention.
(Related: AI Commercial Applications Spread from Farms to Factories Across China)
The Wearable AI Race
iFLYTEK’s launch comes amid intensifying global competition in the smart glasses market. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have gained traction in Western markets, while Chinese companies, including Huawei, Xiaomi, and several startups, are developing competing products. The key differentiator for iFLYTEK’s offering is its depth of language support, 122 languages, far exceeding what most competing products offer, and its focus on professional use cases where translation accuracy is critical.
As AI models become more efficient and hardware continues to miniaturize, wearable devices like smart glasses are poised to become essential tools for both personal and professional use. iFLYTEK’s BEYOND Expo launch positions the company as a serious contender in this emerging category, backed by its deep expertise in speech AI and a growing portfolio of enterprise customers who already rely on its technology.
iFLYTEK’s broader business context is also relevant. The company is one of China’s leading AI enterprises, with a long track record in speech recognition and natural language processing that predates the current generative AI boom by more than a decade. Its technology is embedded in a wide range of applications across education, healthcare, and government services in China. The AI glasses represent a strategic move to extend that expertise into the consumer hardware market, a category that iFLYTEK has historically not prioritized. Lin Huijie’s call for industry standards suggests that the company sees smart glasses not as a niche product but as a platform category that will require coordinated ecosystem development, much as smartphones required standardization of operating systems and app stores to reach mass adoption.