Google and Xreal announce partnership with new Project Aura Android XR smart glasses

Tom's Guide

20-05-2025

During Google's I/O 2025 conference, Xreal, maker of the Xreal One AR glasses, announced a partnership with the tech giant to build spatial computing devices on Android XR, the Google platform for extended reality (XR) devices.
The device, dubbed Project Aura, is only the second official device announced for Android XR after Samsung's Project Moohan XR headset, which is supposed to launch later this year.
"By combining our platform with XREAL's leadership in portable XR hardware, we're expanding spatial experiences to OST form-factors that are truly intuitive and accessible, representing a pivotal moment in our ecosystem," Google's Sr. directior of the XR ecosystem at Google, Hugo Swart, said in a press release.
Xreal is calling Project Aura an "optical see-through" XR device, which looks similar to the Xreal One smart glasses in official images (see above). It's a "lightweight and tethered, cinematic and Gemini AI-powered device."
Interestingly, Xreal developed the custom spatial computing X1 chip for its own glasses, but the company says the collaboration with Google will include a partnership with Qualcomm, meaning Project Aura will sport a Snapdragon XR chipset. Most likely, it will be the Snapdragon XR+ Gen 2, which is expected to feature in Project Moohan.
"Project Aura reflects the power of this collaboration — merging a robust platform with advanced chipsets and our expertise in optical systems," Xreal CEO and founder, Chi Xu said in a press release. We believe this is a breakthrough moment for real-world XR.'
The announcement of Project Aura at I/O appears to be aimed at developers to get them excited for the new device and working on apps or use cases for upcoming smart glasses.
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Xreal makes some of the best smart glasses you can buy right now in the Xreal One and One Pro. Tom's Guide Managing Editor Jason England describes the Xreal One as his "go-to pair of glasses."
As he said in his review, "So far, spatial computing hasn't really taken off. But it's become increasingly clear that the Xreal One is the next step towards this vision."
Xreal said that more details will be shared during the Augmented World Expo which takes place in early June. Hopefully, we'll get more concrete specs on the new device and what Xreal is planning with it.