At this year’s Milan Design Week, one award stood out not just for celebrating aesthetic excellence but for highlighting the practical future of wearable technology in creative industries. Rokid AR Spatial, the latest AR glasses set from Chinese tech pioneer Rokid, received the MILANO DESIGN WEEK ZONA SARPI AWARD for AR Technological Aesthetic Design, honoring its refined balance of fashion, functionality, and user-centered design.

Presented annually as part of the Zona Sarpi cultural initiative during Milan Design Week, the Zona Sarpi Award recognizes groundbreaking technologies and cross-cultural innovations that reflect outstanding design standards.

The jury commended Rokid AR Spatial for its elegant product language, minimalist material treatment, and its ability to integrate advanced technology into everyday creative environments.

What distinguished Rokid AR Spatial was not a promise of far-fetched futurism, but its sophisticated, real-world usability. Weighing just 75 grams and constructed from aerospace-grade materials, the glasses evoke the look and feel of premium eyewear. During its showcase at the ADI Design Museum, the product sparked deeper conversations about the role of augmented reality in modern creative practice.

While it does not claim full spatial computing capabilities or advanced room anchoring, Rokid AR Spatial excels in delivering prosumer-grade AR tools to those who need them most: architects sketching on-site, design students analyzing 3D models in context, and creative teams needing lightweight, multi-screen productivity tools while on the move.

As one visiting design professor from Switzerland noted:

“These AR glasses wouldn’t feel out of place in a studio or classroom. It’s subtle, and that’s powerful.”

For Rokid, the award represents more than just a product milestone—it’s a signal of growing international recognition for Chinese innovation through a design-centric lens. Already active in over 80 countries, Rokid has quietly built a reputation as a leader in AI and AR-integrated hardware. Yet Milan offered something distinct: validation from the global design community, an audience that prioritizes craftsmanship, ergonomics, and elegance as much as functionality.

Following its earlier showcase at CES 2025, where Rokid first teased AR Spatial in portable immersive media, the company continues evolving its smart eyewear line, bringing it into direct conversation with the world’s leading designers.

As AR technology matures, Rokid’s win at Milan shows that the design sector is ready to embrace augmented reality as an extension of creative workflows. From storyboarding and site visits to concept presentations and team collaboration, AR is no longer just a hypothetical concept. It’s wearable, testable, and now award-winning.