TL;DR
- As part of its Android XR plans, Google has unveiled a new look at XREAL’s Project Aura, Android XR’s first wired smart glasses.
- Project Aura pairs lightweight, optical see-through AR-style lenses with a tethered computing puck and runs the same OS and chip as Galaxy XR.
- Though release details remain sparse, Google has confirmed that a full product launch of Project Aura is set for sometime in 2026.
Google launched Android XR last year, with Galaxy XR arriving this year, giving people the chance to finally experience the new platform. But what about more devices? At The Android Show today, Google is sharing more about the types of hardware that we can expect for Android XR, and has shared a second (and better) look at XREAL’s Project Aura wired XR glasses.
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XREAL’s Project Aura is the first Android XR device in the wired XR glasses category. The idea here is to have a lighter pair of glasses that are comfortable to wear for extended periods, and this relative portability and comfort are made possible by offloading a lot of the computing needs to a tethered “puck” that you keep in your pocket or clip to your belt. You can see the compute puck in the background in these images that Google has shared.
Naturally, since these resemble traditional glasses instead of a full-scale VR headset, you don’t get a fully immersive VR experience. Instead, you get a 70-degree field of view and optical see-through technology that layers digital content onto your view of the physical world. This gives you a massive, private screen for work and entertainment, without blocking out your surroundings.
As my colleague C. Scott Brown notes in his Project Aura hands-on, this pair of glasses is essentially a 1:1 recreation of the Galaxy XR. It runs the same operating system (Android XR) and uses the same chipset (Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2). It utilizes the same gesture controls through hand tracking and supports all the same apps that users are already familiar with on the Galaxy XR.
Google envisions wired XR glasses as a more suitable option for travelers — wearing a full VR headset on a plane isn’t ideal, but a relatively lightweight pair of glasses would be a better alternative.
XREAL’s Project Aura pricing and availability
Google hasn’t shared many key details about Project Aura yet, including its battery life, retail name, price, or exact release date. However, the company has shared with us that a full launch is slated for 2026. We hope to learn more about Project Aura in the run-up to its launch, especially as it marks an important and ambitious expansion for the Android XR platform.
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