At a time when AI is accelerating its penetration into various industries, how traditional brands can take advantage of the transformation has become the focus. Recently, Lao Fengxiang, a time-honored Chinese jewelry brand, joined hands with ByteDance's Volcano Engine to launch AI smart glasses for middle-aged and elderly groups, which attracted the attention of the industry. This is not only a crossover of technology, but also a benchmark case of AI in traditional industries, which has stimulated deep thinking about the path of industry integration.
Ⅰ. Strong alliance: traditional brands × technology-driven
Since its founding in 1848, Lao Fengxiang has been a leader in China's jewelry market. According to the data of 2023, the brand value of Lao Fengxiang exceeds 80 billion yuan, and it has nearly 5,000 offline stores across the country, accumulating a deep consumption base and channel advantages. This foray into smart hardware is a bold attempt to explore brand diversification and innovative development.
Since its opening to the outside world in 2020, ByteDance's "Volcano Engine" has become an important platform for the output of AI solutions. The cooperation with Lao Fengxiang not only promotes the implementation of AI in consumer-grade hardware, but also provides a new scenario for Volcano Engine to verify its technical capabilities.
Ⅱ. Focus on the silver hair market: precise functional design
Lao Fengxiang AI glasses are positioned at the middle-aged and elderly group, and the core functions include:
* Voice interaction and emotional dialogue: Based on the large model of bean bags, it realizes natural and coherent voice chat to meet the needs of companionship.
* Visual recognition and assisted reading: Automatically read the text aloud by taking pictures of drug instructions, menus, etc., to lower the threshold for information acquisition.
* Navigation and real-time translation: The camera is combined with the positioning system to support voice navigation and multi-language real-time translation, which is suitable for travel and travel scenarios.
* Call and assistant reminders: You can answer/make calls, and set practical functions such as medication and medical reminders.
These functions are closely related to the needs of middle-aged and elderly people, covering multiple use scenarios such as "life assistant", "travel accompaniment" and "health management", creating a new application paradigm for smart glasses.
Picture: Lao Fengxiang byte cooperation AI glasses
Ⅲ. Technological breakthroughs: performance and experience optimization
AI smart glasses are limited by volume and power, and technical challenges are highlighted. Volcano Engine was developed to address the following issues:
1. Balance between image quality and energy consumption
The low-power image sensor and Byte's self-developed video codec algorithm are used to achieve 30%-50% bandwidth and storage optimization under the same image quality, effectively extending the use time.
2. Imaging optimization in complex light conditions
It integrates multi-frame fusion and intelligent exposure control technology to enhance the image quality in low-light environments and improve the accuracy of backlit scene recognition.
3. Heat dissipation and comfort design
Graphene heat dissipation film + micro heat pipe is embedded in the internal layout of the lightweight glasses frame, and the channel airflow is optimized, so that the device can be used continuously for two hours and still remain below 40°C, ensuring a comfortable fit.
These hard technical supports not only improve product reliability, but also provide basic support for subsequent iterations.
Ⅳ. The market pattern: a new blue ocean is emerging
According to iiMedia Research, global smart glasses shipments will reach 12.8 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of about 26%; The Chinese market is expected to exceed 2.75 million units, an increase of more than 100% year-on-year, ranking first in the world. This means that smart glasses are moving from a niche experiment to a market scale.
At the same time, CNNIC data shows that by the end of 2022, only about 14% of Chinese Internet users were over 60 years old, but they are highly receptive to high-reach technologies such as voice interaction, and they are still growing rapidly. This group of people has educational enthusiasm and functional needs, which is the best entry point for AI glasses.
In terms of major competitors, although brands such as Apple, Meta, and Nreal have released smart glasses products, they are mostly aimed at the young consumer market, emphasizing AR entertainment functions. Lao Fengxiang AI glasses accurately focus on the silver-haired group, forming a differentiated competitive advantage in functional nodes and design.
Ⅴ. Strategic value and promotion path
From a strategic point of view, Lao Fengxiang deepened the modernization and transformation of the brand with the help of AI glasses, and used this to attract the attention of young consumers and build a two-wheel drive of "jewelry + intelligent hardware". It can not only consolidate the advantages of offline channels, but also open up new business tracks.
For ByteDance, the in-depth cooperation with Lao Fengxiang not only verifies the application ability of the Doubao model in hardware, but also accumulates hardware solution experience for the volcano engine, which is expected to expand to more industries such as medical care and education.
In terms of promotion, Lao Fengxiang can use the store network all over the country to carry out education and experience activities, and carry out trial promotion in combination with community pension centers, medical institutions and other fields, so as to open up channels and education markets.
Ⅵ. Challenges and prospects
Although the technology and business model layout is forward-looking, the following challenges still need to be addressed:
1. Continuous technology iteration: Speech recognition under ambient noise, robustness of multilingual translation, and accuracy of visual recognition need to be continuously optimized.
2. User education and habit cultivation: Smart glasses are a new thing for the elderly, and they need to be equipped with easy-to-use interfaces, offline support and continuous incentive mechanisms.
3. Competitive situation escalation: With the acceleration of the implementation of AI chips, more smart glasses products will enter the track. Lao Fengxiang needs to continue to strengthen the characteristics of "elderly scene + emotional interaction" to form continuous differentiation.
From a longer perspective, AI glasses are expected to integrate with health monitoring, telemedicine, virtual assistants and other ecosystems to become multiple entry-level devices. Once the industrial chain matures, it may become one of the core forms of the new generation of "smart wearables".
Conclusion
Lao Fengxiang's cooperation with ByteDance's AI glasses is a brave attempt for traditional industries to take the initiative to embrace technological change. It jumps out of the category of jewelry, integrates technology and life, aims at the needs of the silver-haired crowd, and builds a differentiated competitive advantage. Although there is a long way to go in market education and product iteration, this project undoubtedly shows the trend of intelligent hardware stratification in the future: whoever can get close to the needs of users will be able to seize the minds of the industry.
Under the wave of AI technology, more and more traditional brands will open up new paths with the help of innovation. The cross-border marriage of "time-honored brand + AI" may only be a prologue. There are more possibilities in the future, which deserve our continued attention and expectation.
