Augmented reality (AR) innovator Rokid has integrated Alipay’s digital payment capabilities in to its latest wearables, Rokid Glasses. The AR eyewear includes voice verification and risk control to deliver immersive, seamless and secure payment experiences in-store.

Available in China, the AR Glasses allow customers to link their Alipay account via the Rokid app and use voice verification to instruct payments. The Rokid Glasses scan the merchant’s Alipay QR code in-store and display the payment details on the glasses’ lens display. The shopper then uses voice command to confirm and complete the transaction.

Fast, secure and hands-free payments

According to Rokid, this enables faster transactions, with payments completed in seconds rather than the 20-30 seconds it estimates that traditional mobile-based QR payments usually take. It also means payments become hands-free, no longer requiring a smartphone.

“Equipping Rokid Glasses with payment capabilities brings users a smoother and more intuitive experience, while also ushering the AI glasses industry into the era of payment,” Zhu Mingming, Founder and CEO of Rokid, said. “Behind this innovation is close collaboration with Alipay on both payment and risk technologies.”

“Rokid Glasses deliver a brand-new user experience,” said Zhang Aijuan, Vice President of Alipay owner, Ant Group. “Alipay will fully support the growth of emerging industries and continue to create more value for users.”

The Alipay-enabled Rokid Glasses will begin rolling out to users from June 2025, with over 250,000 units already ordered.

Gesture-based transactions & immersive product discovery

Mingming added that Rokid and Alipay would “continue to explore new experiences together.” Hinting at more innovation to come, Rokid believes the integration of payment functions into AR glasses points to a future of more seamless and intuitive commerce.

It envisages a future where the technology could enable shoppers to complete transactions simply by looking at or gesturing toward a product, removing friction from both physical and digital shopping.

Other use cases being explored include interactive product discovery, such as real-time product information and recommendations, and product validation, such as virtual try-ons.

This follows research by Snapchat and Portas Agency earlier this week, which showed a growing demand, especially among Gen Z shoppers, for AR shopping experiences.

“In the future, we believe the powerful convergence of augmented reality (AR), optical AI and [wearables] will transform the way people live and shop,” Ronan Harris, President of EMEA at Snap, said. He added that 70% of its Snapchat community already use AR every day, and that its own AR-powered lenses are already used an estimated 8billion times per day.