Xreal teases Project Aura smart glasses for Android XR

They look similar mean sunglasses successful the render, with what look to beryllium cameras successful the hinges and chemoreceptor bridge. | Image: Xreal

The Google astute glasses epoch is back, benignant of. Today, Google and Xreal announced a strategical concern for a caller Android XR instrumentality called Project Aura astatine the Google I/O developer conference.

This is officially the 2nd Android XR instrumentality since the level was launched past December. The archetypal is Samsung’s Project Moohan, but that’s an XR headset much successful the vein of the Apple Vision Pro. Project Aura, however, is firmly successful the campy of Xreal’s different gadgets. The technically close word would beryllium “optical see-through XR” device. More colloquially, it’s a brace of immersive astute glasses.

Xreal’s glasses, similar the Xreal One, are similar embedding 2 mini TVs into what looks similar a regular — if a spot chunky — brace of sunglasses. Xreal’s erstwhile gadgets fto you plug into a telephone oregon laptop and presumption whatever’s connected the screen, beryllium it a amusement oregon a confidential papers you privation to edit connected a plane. The payment is that you tin alteration the opacity to presumption (or artifact out) the satellite astir you. That’s the vibe Project Aura’s giving off, too.

Details are sparse — Xreal spokesperson Ralph Jodice told maine we’ll larn a spot much astatine Augmented World Expo adjacent month. But we cognize it’ll person Gemini built-in, arsenic good arsenic a ample field-of-view. In the merchandise render, you tin besides spot what looks similar cameras successful the hinges and chemoreceptor bridge, positive microphones and buttons successful the temples.

That hints astatine a hardware improvement compared to Xreal’s existent devices. Project Aura volition tally a Qualcomm chipset optimized for XR, though we don’t cognize precisely which one. Like Project Moohan, Project Aura is counting connected developers to commencement gathering apps and usage cases now, up of an existent user merchandise launch. Speaking of, Google and Xreal said successful a property merchandise that Android XR apps developed for headsets tin beryllium easy brought implicit to a antithetic signifier origin similar Project Aura.

Back erstwhile I archetypal demoed Android XR, I was told that portion Google had built prototype glasses, the program was to enactment with different partners to nutrient a viable product. That demo besides made it abundantly wide that it viewed XR devices arsenic a cardinal conveyance for Gemini. So far, everything we cognize astir Project Aura is aligned with that strategy. Meaning, Google’s attack to this adjacent epoch of astute glasses is akin to however it archetypal tackled Wear OS — Google provides the platform, portion 3rd parties grip the hardware. (At least, until Google feels similar it’s acceptable to leap into the fray itself.) That makes a ton of consciousness fixed Google’s fraught past with astute glasses hardware. But fixed the momentum we’ve seen done Project Astra and now, Android XR making it into the main Google I/O keynote? “Google” astute glasses are backmost connected the menu.