ThinkAR
Category: AI in Hardware / Wearables
Singapore-headquartered AI wearables company building the AiLENS line of lightweight AI smart glasses with HUD, real-time translation and hands-free AI assistance. ThinkAR was founded in 2024. The company is led by Joe Ye (Founder); Paul Jones (CEO, ThinkAR Japan). Based in Singapore (HQ); Tokyo, Japan (ThinkAR Japan Co., Ltd.). Team size: 11-50. Latest round: Venture Round. Key investors include SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Singapore (HQ); Tokyo, Japan (ThinkAR Japan Co., Ltd.)
- Team size
- 11-50
Value proposition
ThinkAR designs AI wearables that help people see, communicate, and work more naturally. Its AiLENS smart glasses project real-time translation, notifications, AI assistant responses, and teleprompter content directly into the user's field of view — hands-free, in a lightweight 38g form factor with ~10 hours of battery life.
Products and solutions
AiLENS V1 (AI smart glasses: Green MicroLED display, VGA 640x480, Bluetooth LE 5.2, dual mics/speakers, ~10h battery, 76-language real-time translation, AI assistant supporting OpenAI and third-party APIs, teleprompter, notification display, hands-free calling), AiLENS Ultra (announced for April 2025 release).
Unique value
Ultra-lightweight (38g) AI smart glasses with a Green MicroLED HUD, 76-language real-time translation, dual mics, and ~10h battery (3x industry average), powered by Ambiq's ultra-low-power Apollo4 edge-AI SoC — no camera, making it privacy-friendly for workplaces and accessibility use.
Target customer
Everyday consumers and enterprise/business users needing hands-free multilingual communication, presentations, meetings, and accessibility support (including hearing-impaired users via Aisin YYSystem integration).
Industries served
Consumer wearables, enterprise/corporate (meetings, presentations, cross-border business), accessibility (hearing-impaired communication support), retail/travel (multilingual communication).
Technology advantage
Ultra-low-power edge AI via Ambiq Apollo4 SoC enabling 38g weight and ~10h battery life (3x industry average); Green MicroLED HUD display; camera-free privacy-friendly design; 76-language real-time translation; OpenAI + third-party API support; AISIN YYSystem speech-to-text accessibility integration.
How they differentiate
Ultra-lightweight 38g design with ~10h battery (3x industry average), camera-free privacy-friendly form factor, Green MicroLED HUD, 76-language real-time translation, and Ambiq ultra-low-power edge-AI architecture — targeting practical everyday AR rather than immersive spatial computing.
Main competitors
Even Realities (G1/G2 camera-free AI glasses), Ray-Ban Meta (Meta AI glasses), XREAL (Air series), RayNeo (TCL).
Key partnerships
Ambiq (ultra-low-power edge-AI SoC for AiLENS), SB C&S / SoftBank (official Japan distribution via SoftBank SELECTION and retail stores), AISIN (YYSystem speech-to-text accessibility app integration), Amazon (online retail), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (investor).
Major milestones
2024: Founded, received investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Jan 2025: Launched AiLENS with Ambiq partnership (US rollout Jan 2025, APAC/Europe April 2025). April 2025: AiLENS Ultra announced. June 2026: AiLENS V1 official Japan launch via SB C&S (SoftBank SELECTION) at ¥87,780.
Market positioning
Positioned as a lightweight, privacy-conscious, camera-free AI smart glasses maker targeting practical everyday AR use — differentiated from camera-equipped competitors (Ray-Ban Meta) and display-first spatial-computing glasses (XREAL) by its 38g weight, ~10h battery, and hands-free translation/AI assistance focus.
Geographic focus
Global (North America, APAC, Europe); strong Japan presence via ThinkAR Japan and SoftBank distribution.
About Joe Ye (Founder); Paul Jones (CEO, ThinkAR Japan)
Joe Ye: Ex-CEO of ULSee Inc. (Taiwan AI/computer-vision company, since 2014); ex-CEO of CyWee (2007-2009); previously at UTStarcom; MS from Penn State. Paul Jones: APAC market strategist with leadership in real estate, retail and technology.
Latest news about ThinkAR
Official website: https://www.thinkar.com