MAD Gaze Glow Plus
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| MAD Gaze Glow Plus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Augmented Reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | AR Glasses |
| Developer | MAD Gaze |
| Manufacturer | MAD Gaze |
| Release Date | 2020 |
| Price | US$599 (2020); HKD 4,699 (MAD Gaze Hong Kong online store) |
| Successor | MAD Gaze Wave |
| Display | |
| Display | 2 x OLED binocular |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 per-eye |
| Image | |
| Field of View | 53° diagonal |
| Optics | |
| Optics | Birdbath optics ("BirdBath Optical Engine") |
| Ocularity | Binocular |
| Tracking | |
| Hand Tracking | Yes, hand gesture control |
| Audio | |
| Audio | Stereo speakers |
| Microphone | Yes |
| Camera | 5MP RGB camera; 5MP IR detector camera |
| Connectivity | |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C with Android DisplayPort; 3-in-1 Adapter (sold separately) for iPhone, other Android phones and HDMI devices |
| Power | Supplied by the connected device (no internal battery) |
| Device | |
| Weight | 92 g |
| Sensors | 9-axis IMU (accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope); infrared light |
| Input | Hand gestures, voice recognition, connected smartphone |
MAD Gaze Glow Plus is an augmented reality head-mounted display released in 2020. The manufacturer, Hong Kong company MAD Gaze, styles the name as GLOW Plus and markets it as binocular mixed reality (MR) smart glasses.[1][2] The glasses have no processor or battery of their own. They plug into an Android phone over USB-C with DisplayPort output, take their power from that phone, and show its screen or MAD Gaze's own AR apps on a see-through display in front of each eye.[1][3]
The Glow Plus was developed as a higher-specification version of the MAD Gaze Glow, which the company sold at the same time. It uses birdbath optics with a 1080p image and a 53 degree diagonal field of view, where the Glow has an LCoS optical engine with a 720p image and a 45 degree field of view.[1][4] MAD Gaze later described its Wave glasses, crowdfunded on Kickstarter in December 2021, as the next generation of the Glow Plus; the Wave replaced the birdbath optics with a hybrid waveguide display.[5]
Announcement and release
MAD Gaze was developing the Glow Plus in November 2019, before its first Glow units had shipped. Display Daily reported that month that the Glow Plus would keep "substantially the same design as Glow" but move to a micro OLED display with 1080p resolution and a field of view increased from 45 to 53 degrees, producing a 118-inch image at 3 meters. The same report said the Glow Plus was "anticipated to sell for $399" and was scheduled for initial delivery three months after the Glow, whose target delivery was December 2019.[2] Development funds were raised through an Indiegogo InDemand campaign, which had collected $440,361 from 873 backers when Display Daily's article was published.[2]
In February 2020, when MAD Gaze announced a 130 million yuan (US$19 million) Series A investment from DNS Capital and Black30 Ventures, Forbes listed the Glow Plus among the AR glasses the company had launched; MAD Gaze was founded in 2013 and was led by CEO Jordan Cheng. Forbes quoted the Indiegogo page, where MAD Gaze called the Glow Plus "a new replacement of tablets and laptops" and "a binocular mixed reality glasses in a hybrid form". The article also reported that the company had warned its Indiegogo buyers to expect delays because the coronavirus outbreak was affecting electronics manufacturing in China.[6]
In its December 2020 review, GBAtemp wrote that the Glow Plus had "underwent a successful crowdfunding campaign and started to ship recently", priced at $599. The Glow was on sale at the same time for $529.[3] MAD Gaze's Hong Kong online store later listed the Glow Plus at HKD 4,699; an archived copy of the store page from December 2023 shows it as out of stock.[7]
Design and hardware
Frame and weight
MAD Gaze gives the weight of the Glow Plus as 92 g, compared with 98 g for the Glow, and describes the frame as foldable.[1][4] The official product page shows the glasses in a color named Bubble Gum.[1] According to GBAtemp, the box contains a hard protective case, a soft pouch, a USB Type-C cable, four insulation strips, and frames, screws and sample lenses so that a local optician can make prescription lens inserts that screw onto the inside of the glasses. The nose pads are adjustable.[3]
Display and optics
The optical system is a birdbath design, which MAD Gaze calls the "BirdBath Optical Engine", with a 53 degree diagonal field of view.[1] MAD Gaze's Hong Kong store lists the display as BirdBath OLED with a resolution of 1920 x 1080.[7] The company compares the image to a 118-inch screen seen from 3 meters away.[1] MAD Gaze says the displays are pre-set to fit the wearer's interpupillary distance, so no adjustment is needed.[1]
The display is see-through: GBAtemp described the image as "a translucent mirror of your screen's content that overlays on your surrounding environment", and noted that an onlooker can see a bright rectangle on each lens without making out the content. Screen brightness can be adjusted in the companion app.[3]
Sensors, audio and connectivity
The official specification lists a 5MP RGB camera, a 5MP IR detector camera, an infrared light, a 9-axis IMU (accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope), an LED indicator, a microphone, stereo speakers and a USB Type-C port with Android DisplayPort.[1] MAD Gaze states that the tracking system supports simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and hand gesture controls.[1] The speakers sit at the ends of the temples, and the USB-C port is at the end of the right temple.[3]
The glasses draw power from the connected phone. MAD Gaze says they can be used for up to 5 hours of continuous use on that supply.[1] GBAtemp noted that the glasses contain no battery at all and that the phone's battery drains quickly as a result.[3]
Full functionality requires an Android phone with USB-C DisplayPort output and OTG support. A 3-in-1 Adapter, sold separately, connects the glasses to iPhones running iOS 11 or later, Android phones running Android 6.0 or later with OTG, game consoles with HDMI output (MAD Gaze names PS4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch) and computers with HDMI ports.[1] GBAtemp reported that the adapter works with phones that lack DisplayPort output through the third-party DisplayLink Presenter app, but that the image froze several times in its tests.[3]
| Specification | Glow Plus | Glow |
|---|---|---|
| Optics | BirdBath Optical Engine | LCoS Optical Engine |
| Resolution | 1080p | 720p |
| Field of view | 53° (diagonal) | 45° (diagonal) |
| Cameras | 5MP RGB, 5MP IR detector | 5MP RGB, 5MP IR detector |
| Motion sensor | 9-axis IMU | 9-axis IMU |
| Audio | Microphone, stereo speakers | Microphone, stereo speakers |
| Connection | USB Type-C with Android DisplayPort | USB Type-C with Android DisplayPort |
| Weight | 92 g | 98 g |
| Control | Voice recognition, hand gesture | Voice recognition, hand gesture |
The table follows MAD Gaze's product pages for the two models.[1][4]
Software and features
In the simplest mode the glasses mirror the phone's screen. GBAtemp found this mode intuitive but noted that the mirrored screen stays fixed in view and moves with the wearer's head, without head tracking.[3] MAD Gaze lists three control methods: hand gestures, voice recognition and control through the connected smartphone. Users can also pair a Bluetooth gamepad or keyboard.[1]
MAD Gaze's AR Launcher app provides a head-tracked desktop. In GBAtemp's test it showed the time, temperature, schedule, news and some apps, used the connected phone as a pointer, with taps on its touchscreen to select items, and allowed up to seven resizable app windows to be placed across a canvas of about 180 degrees, where they stayed in place as the wearer turned their head. The reviewer noted that the launcher uses 3DoF tracking and that only a few services, including YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter, ran inside it; other phone apps appeared as a static screen.[3] A separate MG Hand Gestures app uses the outward-facing cameras for hand tracking.[3]
Apps were distributed through MAD Gaze's MAD Store, and the company says the Glow Plus is also compatible with third-party apps from Google Play.[1] In October 2020 MAD Gaze's developer site described the SDKs its technical team had published for the Glow and Glow Plus.[8] GBAtemp reported that the free SDKs covered head tracking, scene tracking and hand gesture control, but it found only one app that used them: MADrift, a paid AR racing game with support for some hand gestures.[3]
Reception
GBAtemp's Prans Dunn gave the Glow Plus 7 out of 10 in December 2020. He praised the 1080p image as "crisp and vivid", found the plug-and-play mode intuitive, and called the AR Launcher the best app on the device. His criticisms were the lack of optimized software, laggy hand-gesture tracking, thin temples that felt flimsy, quiet built-in speakers, and heat: within 15 minutes of first use he felt "significant heat" across his forehead from the top of the frame. He concluded that the device "packs promising tech in a compact device but is held back by a lack of optimised software", and described it as sitting between a developer kit and a consumer product.[3]
Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Display | 2 x OLED binocular |
| Optics | BirdBath Optical Engine[1] |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 per-eye |
| Field of View | 53° diagonal |
| Cameras | 5MP RGB camera, 5MP IR detector camera[1] |
| Sensors | 9-axis IMU (accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope), infrared light[1] |
| Audio | Microphone, stereo speakers[1] |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C with Android DisplayPort[1] |
| Weight | 92 g[1] |
| Price | $599[3] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 "MAD Gaze GLOW Plus - Mixed Reality Smart Glasses For Gaming And Entertainment". MAD Gaze. MAD Gaze. 2021-01-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20210115142359/https://www.madgaze.com/glow-plus/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Arthur Berman (2019-11-20). "New Glow Plus Mixed Reality Smartglasses in Development by Mad Gaze". Display Daily. https://displaydaily.com/new-glow-plus-mixed-reality-smartglasses-in-development-by-mad-gaze-2/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Prans Dunn (2020-12-07). "Review: MAD Gaze GLOW Plus (Hardware)". GBAtemp. https://gbatemp.net/review/mad-gaze-glow-plus.1621/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "MAD Gaze GLOW - Mixed Reality Smart Glasses For Gaming And Entertainment". MAD Gaze. MAD Gaze. 2021-02-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20210204043226/https://www.madgaze.com/glow/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Arthur Berman (2021-12-17). "Next-Gen Smart Glasses from Mad Gaze are on the Way". Display Daily. https://displaydaily.com/next-gen-smart-glasses-from-mad-gaze-are-on-the-way/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Charlie Fink (2020-02-24). "AR Smart Glass Maker MAD Gaze Snags $19 Million Investment". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2020/02/24/ar-smart-glass-maker-mad-gaze-snags-19-m-investment/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "GLOW Plus - MAD Gaze - AR Smart Glasses & Solution". MAD Gaze Mall. MAD Gaze. 2023-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209072617/https://mall.madgaze.com/product/mad-gaze-glow-plus. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "MADGAZE Developer Insight". MAD Gaze Developer. MAD Gaze. 2021-05-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20210516161623/https://developer.madgaze.com/insight. Retrieved 2026-09-27.