XRAI Glass, a maker of augmented reality glasses that translate speech to closed-caption text for hearing-impaired users, has chosen Saudi Arabia as the entry point for its expansion into the Middle East.
The Arab world's biggest economy is “at the forefront of technology and is investing in it”, co-founder Mitchell Feldman told The National in an interview at the Leap technology exhibition in Riyadh this week.
The London-based company is seeking to work with the right manufacturers in the kingdom, he said.
“The reason why we chose to first look at Saudi Arabia is because the country seems to be a great early adopter of technology in the Middle East,” Mr Feldman said.
“It is also at the forefront of helping companies and people. In this industry, it’s a caring community, so it’s a natural habit for XRAI Glass to start its journey into the Middle East here.”
Other Middle East countries are on XRAI's radar, especially the UAE, and the company is “certainly considering” building a research and development centre in the region, he said.
“What is highly appealing to us is looking at teaming with an academic entity, such as an established university in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to help us look further at the academic research.”
Smart glasses are a growing niche as manufacturers continue to add new functions and use cases in a number of industries, resulting in stiff competition in the market.
The segment has also received a boost due to the growing popularity of the metaverse.
The first major attempt to take these devices mainstream came with the launch of Google Glass in 2013, which struggled with a number of problems, including utility, design and a hefty $1,500 price tag.
In September 2021, Meta Platforms, then known as Facebook, introduced its Stories smart glasses in collaboration with eyewear maker Ray-Ban. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg hinted at more projects last year.
Major technology companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Snapchat, with its Spectacles, are also producing smart glasses.
Apple and Samsung, the world's two biggest smartphone manufacturers, have also long been rumoured to be working on their own versions.
Apple, in particular, is reportedly on track to release a $3,000 mixed reality headset later this year.
The global smart glass market is projected to hit $8.2 billion by 2027, from an estimated $5 billion in 2022, at a compound annual growth rate of 10.4 per cent, data from research company Markets and Markets shows.
“The accessibility market is our biggest focus. We want to empower people with hearing impairments and those with neurodivergent issues,” Mr Feldman said.
What is highly appealing to us is looking at teaming with an academic entity, such as an established university in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to help us look further at the academic research
Mitchell Feldman,
co-founder of XRAI Glass
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health has put a special focus on those with hearing impairments, particularly with the “We Are With You” initiative, and explicitly forbids any form of discrimination, according to its website.
There are more than 229,000 people who are hearing-impaired in Saudi Arabia, who are “greatly ignored, particularly at public departments and places due to lack of interpreters”, the General Authority for Statistics said in a recent report.
The capabilities of smart glasses have significantly improved over time, Mr Feldman said.
XRAI Glass has also adopted advanced privacy and security measures by using Web3 architecture, which is decentralised, he said.
Web3 is the emerging new concept of the World Wide Web, with blockchain, decentralisation, openness and greater user utility among its core components.
“This means all content and data lives with the user. Nothing is stored on the cloud, it is all user owned,” Mr Feldman said.
“Many companies are now looking towards Web3 architecture over traditional web, as users control their data.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
