The Chinese start-up Rokid, which usually develops augmented-reality glasses, has developed a pair of glasses equipped with an infrared sensor and a camera to allow wearers to ‘see’ people’s temperatures while they’re on the move.

Rokid, which is based in Hangzhou, developed the temperature detection glasses, known as T1 glasses, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in late 2019 and has seen very high demand for the product. In its first two weeks the Rokid sold 1,000 pairs to governments, industrial parks and schools.

The T1 glasses are equipped with a Snapdragon835 processor and offer a multi-modal Halo XUI interaction system, that takes into account head tracking, voice, tough and gestures. They also support low-latency, real-time video transmission and GPS positioning.

In addition, the T1 glasses are equipped with industry-leading face recognition, object recognition, and voice assistant technology.

The T1 glasses from Rokid

The start-up is now working on an improved pair that will be able to simultaneously take temperature readings of multiple people, allowing the authorities to better monitor more crowded places. This will be particularly useful as more countries start to open up and allow greater movement of their populations.

“Apart from fixed temperature measurement, T1 can provide portable, distant and prompt temperature checking, which would be a great help,” Rokid Vice-President Xiang Wenjie told NY Post.

Other Chinese tech companies have also developed innovative products to help cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the Megahealth Ring, which was also created in Hangzhou, allows recovering COVID-19 patients to be measured from home by simply wearing a ring.