City Express Jin Yingying

Zhu Mingming, CEO and co-founder of the Hangzhou-based AR company Rokid Glass was listed on the 2019 edition of the Next Reality 30 (NR30), which selects people who have made the biggest impact on the augmented reality space in the last 12 months. Evan Spiegel, Co-Founder and CEO of Snap Inc., Alex Kipman, HoloLens Inventor of Microsoft, and Aparna Chennapragada, VP Google Lens & AR of Google are also selected into the Augmented Reality Influencers ranking.

With his background in artificial intelligence, Zhu Mingming aims to let AR glasses go smart.

In addition to a suite of voice-activated smart speakers that are all the rage these days, Rokid makes sleek augmented reality wearables with a side of artificial intelligence. Rokid Glass is positioned to serve enterprise businesses with remote assistance and workflow guidance software, while Rokid Vision is marketed towards consumers. A third model, the prototype Project Aurora, fits in the mold of tethered smartglasses like the Nreal Light. Each model comes with Rokid's digital assistant.

Zhu is a bit of a serial entrepreneur. After earning his bachelor's degree in computer science from Zhejiang University and his Ph.D. from the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, he co-founded a mobile internet software startup called Zhejiang SU2 Technology Ltd. He then started up Mammoth Technologies, which the Alibaba Group acquired in 2010.

While at Alibaba, Zhu experimented with deep learning and natural language processing as the leader of the company's M-team. With his skill sharpened, he left Alibaba to start Rokid in 2014.

So far, Rokid has continued to attract the attention of investors, including Temasek, Credit Suisse, IDG Capital, and CDIB Capital. The company has assembled a team of more than 400 employees, a headquarters in Hangzhou, China, a research and development center (R-Lab) in San Francisco, an algorithm lab (A-Lab) in Beijing, and a new hardware site in Shenzen.

Rokid is among a growing throng of China-based AR wearable makers emerging at the moment, such as Nreal, Shadow Technologies, and Mad Gaze. Zhu's background in AI and his company's infrastructure and resources give Rokid an advantage over its peers.