At the end of last year, Google announced a new augmented reality ecosystem, Android XR, designed to compete with Apple’s Meta Quest and Vision Pro. Along with this, the company presented the first device – Project Moohan virtual reality headset from Samsung.
Now, as part of Google I/O, Xreal has unveiled Project Aura, the second official device for Android XR. This is not a full-fledged headset, but a pair of lightweight transparent “tethered” glasses based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. According to Google and Xreal, they include Google’s Gemini AI artificial intelligence and provide both optical (OST) and virtual (VST) cinematic experiences.
According to the companies, the new XR glasses are a “call to action” for developers. They invited the community to “start dreaming up new apps and use cases for the next generation of XR,” adding that developers who are already building headsets on the platform will be able to easily port their apps to Project Aura.
Xreal and Google did not disclose any other details. Previous Xreal headsets, such as the Air 2 Ultra, offer 6DoF (six degrees of freedom) tracking so you can physically walk around in a virtual space, as well as hand tracking for virtual interaction with objects. The fact that the glasses are tethered (despite having their own processor) means that you’ll likely have to carry an Android device with you.
Google’s previous flirtations with VR and AR (Cardboard, Daydream, and Google Glass) ended up in the Google graveyard. However, the company recently announced that the technology behind them is finally good enough to unleash the full potential of augmented reality. And while lightweight, transparent augmented reality glasses have never quite reached their potential, Xreal has arguably made the most progress with models like the One Pro. Google and Xreal plan to reveal more information about Project Aura at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in June 2025.
