Digital products and services, from augmented reality (AR) glasses to new fifth generation (5G) calling and aged-aiding innovation, made their debut at the Mobile World Congress 2023 that opened in Shanghai on Wednesday.

These, officials said, will boost information consumption and digital transformation in Shanghai and nationwide.

Walking through five halls of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), the exhibition venue, the reporter encountered several spotlights.

AR and metaverse

AR brand XREAL is wowing visitors with a giant-size installation of a pair of glasses in the N2 hall. The company has showcased its XREAL Air AR glasses as well as new accessory Beam that makes its domestic debut. The box-sized Beam features mobile charging and streaming apps inside.

The AR glasses feature immersive digital entertainment and remote working, with a new function to connect PC and Mac laptops to "create" three screens in front of your eyes.

Previously focusing on overseas markets, XREAL is now expanding in the domestic market, targeting annual sales of "100,000-level" glasses in 2023. It is cooperating with mobile carriers and partners, including Migu, iQiyi, NIO and Kuaishou, to achieve the target.

The booming wave of metaverse and Apple's release of Vision Pro, which is expected to stimulate the AR/VR market, may help Beijing-based XREAL. VR or virtual reality and AR are key technology adoptions in metaverse.

Interestingly, China Mobile announced the launch of a metaverse industry alliance, with 24 firms as the first-batch members, during the MWC Shanghai.

Livelihood 5G services

A new 5G calling service, with multimedia display and intelligence, will debut in the Yangtze River Delta region by the end of this year, Shanghai Daily learned at China Telecom's booth in the N3 hall.

For example, it features real-time voice recognition and automatic substitute translation, pop-up on smartphone screen during calls. It can help elderly people with hearing disabilities or callers speaking different languages. Meanwhile, if you call a restaurant hotline, menu, dishes and avatar pictures and videos will be displayed, as they are set up, on the screen.

The new calling service, thanks to faster 5G networks, also offers higher definition to 1080p, double the level of WeChat or other current messengers.

China Telecom is also adopting a new 5G-enhanced service on Metro Line 4 in Shanghai, the first of its kind worldwide, to offer faster 5G services underground. It also plans to build a total of 1,000 upgraded "red booths" in Shanghai within two years. With Wi-Fi and various one-click services, the telecom booths are expected to help more than 6 million elderly residents.

Digital Shanghai Zone

The final hall N5 boasts the special zone Digital Shanghai, which is appearing at MWC Shanghai for the first time in its decade-old history.

Shanghai's digital transformation has entered "the fast lane", with a batch of "outstanding cases" and it has achieved "unprecedented success" as a global digital hub. Digital Shanghai explores how to use the next-generation information technology to solve a series of challenges in modern international cities, according to the MWC organizer GSMA.

In the zone, Huashan Hospital showcases smart medical applications, including AIGC and wearable devices; Shanghai International Automobile City displays autonomous driving tests and results. Other applications cover autonomous trucks, AI fitting and cross-border e-commerce management.