As artificial intelligence becomes prevalent, everything can be augmented. We’re seeing a shift from humans working on computers, to humans and AI working together.
AI definitely has the potential to transform industries including healthcare, improving cognitive abilities, providing sensory inputs, and of course, enabling continuous monitoring in offering real-time feedback, AI augmentation turns potentiality into possibility.
A recent report by Statista suggested that the global AI market is expected to show an annual growth rate of 27.67% (2025-2030), resulting in a market volume of US$826.70 billion by 2030, highlighting the immense potential of AI augmentation encompassing the substantial demands for technological advancements. Say, smart glasses that enable intuitive interaction between the user and the world; objects respond to touches with haptic feedback and an immersive experience; or, devices that detect our subtle changes in mental state then provide personalized guidance, the possibilities are endless.
These were largely science fiction – until CES 2025 brings us closer to a future, where startups take off from Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) towards the international stage, where Human-AI symbiosis become a reality.
Surcharge View with Gen AI
AirGo Vision, a pair of smart glasses set to unveil its fifth-generation powered by OpenAI’s frontier model GPT-4o, enabling seamless, hands-free interaction for users to ask questions and receive answers effortlessly, a search engine on-the-go, so to speak.
Solos Technology, based in Hong Kong, leverages the power of multimodal LLM, AirGo Vision can now capture images and provide illustrative insights that were previously unavailable. Other notable features include real-time translation, voice-activated commands, and instant access to real-time information.
Kenny Cheung, CEO of Solos, explains that rather than pull out a phone to take a photo or type in a query, your glasses see what you see, allowing them access and process context at a moment’s notice; and within its ingenious design, all electronics are tightly integrated into the temple arms, allowing for interchangeable frames with type-C connectors that can be easily swapped out, as Solos mastered miniaturization.
While technological advancements are crucial, they’re not enough to guarantee success if consumers don’t find Solos’ glasses “cute” or comfortable to wear. It’s been given a chance with Hong Kong’s expertise in both electronics and eyewear industries for the smart glasses to balance aesthetics and aptitude, and to allow personalization without compromising functionality for flexibility.
Hong Kong’s prototyping ecosystem is regarded for its agility, granting Solos the resources to iterate rapidly in refining its smart glasses, going to market sooner, and getting acceptance faster for further growth.
AI: Let There be Touch
While the smart glasses shed light on how we will communicate with the world, there are touch sensors that allow simpler interaction with machine.
Founded in the UK and now also headquartered in Hong Kong, TG0 is a pioneer in the hardware front of AI technologies, enabling control with a flick or dab that applies across sectors, from automotive to medical devices and consumer electronics, machine learning transforms conductive polymers into novel sensing technology, and designers are encouraged to reimagine product designs in making a stark contrast to be rid of traditional touch sensors that rely heavily on rigid materials and complex electronic assemblies with multiple layers.
By developing algorithms that can run on tiny AI chips, which detect not just touch, but recognize gestures, deformation, and nuanced pressure, interpreting signals generated when and where the material is touched across the surface, TG0 fundamentally change how users could interact with devices. The solution is also environmentally friendly as it reduces the need for electronic components, minimizing environmental footprint. Co-founder Liucheng Guo, a renowned expert in AI software and hardware design, believes that Hong Kong offers an ideal blend of research and development opportunities, as well as access to key markets for expansion.
Life Coaching with AI-empowered Perspective
So we’ve developed that AI can sense a touch, but when paired with IoT, AI can even “sense” human behavior. PieX, an AI-powered pendant designed by a team of researchers at ThingX in Hong Kong, offering new perspectives with AIoT, on understanding one’s mental state, serving as a personal life coach, and shouldering the emotional load.
As CEO Bob Zhao explains, ‘In today’s world, where our memories are dispersed across multiple apps and devices, PieX brings a holistic view that aggregates and contextualizes memories, habits, and activities, making sense out of signals given from conversations and vital signs, while mulling over patterns in emotional fluctuations that leads to self-discovery. At the heart of the solution is an app that runs locally on smartphones, providing actionable insights regardless of whether users are navigating uncertainty on a challenging day, or seeking solace during stressful moments, personalized support and guidance to calmness and energy is found with PieX.
Seeing is believing
These startups are testament to the comprehensive incubation programmes at HKSTP providing mentorship, funding support, infrastructure and global connections that introduce “augmented” ideas to reality, and taking center stage at this year’s CES to give a preview on our future, driven by AI.
