Minimis’ Flow AR glasses brings navigation and performance data closer to a runner or cyclist’s forward view. The company is betting that sports technology can demand less attention from the people using it, enhancing focus and performance.
Minimis is targeting December 2026 for the first limited batch of Flow AR, a pair of standalone sports smart glasses designed to absorb the jobs of a phone, watch and bike computer.
The Sydney company plans to fit Android 12, an eSIM, GPS, optical heart-rate sensing and ANT+ connectivity into glasses weighing 80g or less. CTO and co-founder Paul Skevington told The XR Beat that battery life should exceed four hours, with longer runtimes expected during typical sports use.
Flow AR’s basic pitch is simple. A runner or cyclist can see navigation and performance data without reaching for a phone or looking down at a watch. Minimis wants the glasses to collect data, run apps and communicate without a companion device.
The Central Idea? Glasses Run the Workout
Most display glasses act as an accessory: the phone supplies the connection, apps and processing, while the glasses show a smaller selection of information.
Flow AR is meant to operate as the main device.
Minimis lists a MediaTek Helio G36 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ANT+, LTE and GPS alongside its right-eye color display. Cyclists could still connect equipment such as power meters or bike radar, although the glasses are intended to handle navigation, heart rate and mobile connectivity themselves.
Skevington described the engineering job to The XR Beat:
“We essentially shrunk a phone, heart rate sensor and additional ANT+ chip into glasses. We also needed to develop our own eSIM modem as no pre-certified modems were available for our form factor.”
Device consolidation affects more than the contents of a runner’s pockets. A primary sports computer can become the route through which athletes install apps, receive coaching, follow navigation and store training data.
Minimis could eventually sell services around that relationship or give sports organizations a direct way to deliver instructions and event information. Those applications will depend on the software and partnerships built after launch.
Focus = Performance
Skevington told The XR Beat that his first heart-rate tracker “improved my running no end”.
With Flow, a runner could catch their pace drifting during an interval, and can keep their technique consistent without having to extend an arm and look down. A cyclist could hold a target power output without repeatedly checking the handlebars. Both could follow a training programme more precisely instead of waiting until the session ends to discover they went too hard or too slowly.
A 2026 randomised trial found that swimmers using augmented-reality goggles followed prescribed workout lengths more closely. During the largest training plan, compliance with the required interval effort reached 69%, compared with 58% without live visual feedback.
Flow AR still needs to prove the effect outdoors. Its performance case depends on showing the right metric at the right moment without filling the athlete’s vision with data.
The B2B Angle and Future Opportunities
Minimis plans to sell Flow AR directly and through distributors, cycle shops and sporting-goods retailers. Skevington also told The XR Beat that discussions with cycling teams and ambassadors had begun, although the company needs to reach design freeze before taking them further.
The deeper opportunity is probably to turn the glasses into a team training system. Coaches could send riders target power zones, interval instructions, route information and live cues without repeatedly drawing their eyes towards a handlebar display. Flow AR’s Android base could also let teams retain existing sports apps, reducing the disruption of adopting new hardware.
Team use would create additional requirements. Coaches would need control over apps, workout data and permissions, while teams would need a practical way to assign, charge and support several devices. Minimis has not described those capabilities or announced a team deployment.
Cycling teams could give Minimis demanding test users and evidence from real training, whereas group sales could depend on whether the product is as manageable for coaches as it is useful for athletes.
Relief for the Recreational Runner
Some non-professional athletes still run or cycle with their phone in their pocket.
Leaving the phone at home removes a series of small problems that accumulate around a workout. There is no phone bouncing in a pocket, no handlebar mount and no separate connection between the display and its main computer. An eSIM also means navigation or a call need not disappear merely because the phone is elsewhere.
Audio still requires another component. Minimis’s crowdfunding FAQ says calls are made through Bluetooth earphones, while other sports sensors can connect through Bluetooth or ANT+.
Control is improving in the prototype too. During real-world testing in Taipei this week, Skevington said locally running speech recognition had become effective enough that he now rarely touches the joystick except to switch the glasses on or off. Voice could be particularly valuable when a cyclist needs both hands on the bars or a runner wants to keep moving.
More than four hours of battery life will cover many training sessions, while long rides, marathons and ultra-distance events can demand much more. Minimis hasn’t published a final battery-test method or runtime for each major mode.
Android Could Open Existing Sports Apps
Minimis has chosen a familiar software base instead of asking every sports service to build for a new operating system. Skevington said:
“As an Android phone most apps will be available via Play Store off the shelf.”
Access to existing apps could shorten the path from buying the glasses to seeing familiar routes, training plans and media. It could also give developers a larger addressable base than a proprietary Minimis store.
However, phone compatibility doesn’t guarantee a good glasses experience. Most Android apps are designed for a touchscreen held in the hand, rather than a monocular display controlled by voice and a small joystick. Athletes also need information they can understand in a glance without obscuring the route.
Minimis has not yet named the launch apps or explained how Play Store access, login, permissions and interface adaptation will work on the final product. A short list of polished sports apps may prove more valuable at launch than a large catalog of software built for the wrong screen.
Camera-Free Glasses Avoid a Growing Rules Problem
Minimis has deliberately left out cameras and speakers. The company has used the available space and power for a display, heart-rate sensor, eSIM and ANT+ connection instead.
The decision now carries a benefit beyond weight and battery. Camera glasses face growing resistance in courts, workplaces, hospitality venues and sport. A rider was recently disqualified after wearing video-recording smart glasses during a Tour de France event, while XRB’s breakdown of the different products sold under the smart-glasses label shows why camera and display eyewear are beginning to face different rules.
Camera-free sports glasses can’t record competitors, spectators or people in changing and training areas. Event organizers may still decide whether an in-view display is permitted during competition, but they can assess Flow AR without the separate privacy and broadcast questions created by a wearable camera.
Fit, Battery and Delivery Will Decide the Product
Standalone hardware creates the benefits Minimis wants and the hardest constraints it still has to solve.
Skevington explained:
“The modem, antennas and onboard heart rate sensors have added a few grams. The battery is the single heaviest component, needed to drive the display and communications.”
Minimis is targeting a production weight of 80g or less. Skevington said grip at the head and nose, weight balance and comfort remain central to the final design. A device used during running and cycling has to stay stable through sweat, repeated impact and long sessions across different head shapes.
The current timetable follows a substantial delay.
Minimis originally estimated July 2024 delivery during its crowdfunding campaign. Skevington said the small team initially struggled to secure components, then abandoned an earlier display after partners warned that it could infringe several patents. The change forced the company to find another supplier and redesign the product.
The first limited backer batch is now planned for December 2026, matching the Q4 launch window on the Minimis website. Manufacturing planning is underway with several prospective partners. The pre-seed round is intended to fund manufacturing setup, CE marking under the Radio Equipment Directive and FCC certification.
Minimis still has to prove the final fit, runtime, interface and delivery plan. If it succeeds, Flow AR could move smart glasses from a secondary screen to the main sports computer for some athletes. The first batch will show whether consolidating three devices into one frame reduces enough friction to justify wearing the result for up to four hours.
