Latest news with #Xreal
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Google, Xreal Debut Smart Glasses With Android OS
Chi Xu, founder and CEO of Xreal, discusses the company's new deal with Google for smart glasses that can rival Meta's upcoming eyewear. He joins Ed Ludlow on "Bloomberg Technology." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Gizmodo
Making Android XR Glasses That Don't Suck Is Going to Be Very Hard
Google has its work cut out if it's going to make the smart glasses we've been waiting for. I'll be honest with you: I think smart glasses are awesome. I don't mean to say they work well all the time, or that they don't do half of what they should do at this stage, or that they don't need a massive dose of computing power. Those things are all true in my honest opinion. But even despite having to scream at my pair of Meta Ray-Bans to play Elton John this morning, only for them to repeatedly try and play John Prine instead, I love them for one thing: their potential. And Google—if I/O 2025 is any indication—sees that same potential, too. It spent quite some time during its keynote laying out its vision for what smart glasses might be able to do via its Android XR smart glasses platform and supporting hardware made with Xreal. The possibilities are enticing. With Android XR and smart eyewear like Project Aura glasses, the form factor could actually get to the next level, especially with optical passthrough that can superimpose stuff like turn-by-turn navigation in front of your eyeballs. If you were watching the live demo yesterday, it probably looked like we were all right on the cusp of being able to walk around with the futuristic pair of smart glasses we've been waiting for, and partly that impression is true. Smart glasses—ones that do all the fun stuff we want them to do—are imminent, but unfortunately for everyone, Google included, they're likely going to be a lot harder to perfect than tech companies would have us believe. When it comes to glasses, there are still constraints, and quite a few of them. For one, if smart glasses are going to be the future gadget we want them to be, they need some kind of passthrough. Technologically speaking, we're already there. While Gizmodo's Senior Editor, Consumer Tech, Ray Wong, only got about a minute to try Project Aura at Google I/O he can attest to the fact that the glasses do indeed have an optical display that can show maps and other digital information. The problem isn't the screen, though; it's what having a screen might entail. I'm personally curious about what having optical passthrough might do to battery life. Size is still the biggest issue when it comes to functional smart glasses, which is to say that it's difficult to cram all of that architecture we need into frames that don't feel much heavier than a regular pair of glasses. Think about it: you need a battery, compute power, drivers for speakers, etc. All of those things are relatively small nowadays, but they add up. And if your glasses can suddenly do a lot more than they used to, you're going to need a battery that reflects those features, especially if you're using optical passthrough, playing audio, and querying your onboard voice assistant all at once. A bigger battery means more weight and a bulkier look, however, and I don't really care to walk around with Buddy Holly-lookin' frames on my face all day. I was promised 5 minutes with the Google Android XR smart glasses, but they only gave me 3 minutes, and half of that was explaining what they were and how they worked, so I actually only had 90 seconds to use Gemini on a painting on a wall, two books on a bookshelf, and the… — Ray Wong (@raywongy) May 20, 2025 Then there's the price. Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses are already relatively expensive ($300+, depending on the model) despite not even having a screen in them. I don't have the projected bill of materials for Project Aura or Google's prototype Android XR glasses, obviously, but I am going to assume that these types of optical displays are going to cost a little bit more than your typical pair of sunglasses. That's compounded by the fact that the supply chain and manufacturing infrastructure around making those types of displays likely isn't very robust at this point, given people really only started buying smart glasses in the mainstream about five minutes ago. I sound like I'm naysaying here, and maybe I am a little bit. Shrinking tech down, historically speaking, has never been easy, but these are some of the most powerful and resourced companies in the world making this stuff, and I don't for a second doubt that they can't figure it out. It's not the acumen that would prevent them; it's the commitment. I want to believe that the level of focus is there, given all of the time Google devoted to showcasing Project Aura yesterday, but it's hard to say for sure. Google, despite the behemoth it is, is being pulled in various directions—for example, AI, AI, and AI. I can only hope in this case that Google actually puts its money where its futuristic spy glasses are and actually powers Project Aura through to fruition. C'mon, Google, daddy needs a HUD-enabled map for biking around New York City.
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Google, Xreal Debut Smart Glasses With Android OS
Chi Xu, founder and CEO of Xreal, discusses the company's new deal with Google for smart glasses that can rival Meta's upcoming eyewear. He joins Ed Ludlow on 'Bloomberg Technology.' (Source: Bloomberg)
Phone Arena
21-05-2025
- Phone Arena
Xreal unveils the Aura smart glasses powered by Google's Android XR
Google has been working on an Android-based operating system for XR ( Extended Reality ) that it showed off last year. Xreal — a brand known for its discreet AR glasses — will be one of the first to release a pair of glasses that will be powered by Google's Android Project Aura, these glasses will continue the company's tradition of XR products that don't stand out in public. Due to running Android XR, Project Aura will also be one of the most capable and versatile XR products hitting the market this is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR chips, which are specifically designed for glasses and headsets built for spatial computing. Xreal's new glasses, thanks to Android XR, will be able to send and receive messages, take pictures or record videos, and give you directions in MR ( Mixed Reality ). Project Aura is an OST ( optical see-through ) device, so users will be able to see their surroundings as well as the virtual elements being projected on top. Android XR uses Google's flagship AI model Gemini to carry out complex tasks. One of the most exciting features, in my opinion, is being able to talk to someone speaking a different language and seeing the translation as real-time subtitles. Google's Android XR providing directions in MR. | Image credit — Google Xreal will share more details about Project Aura at the AWE ( Augmented World Expo ) in June and later in the year as well. This means that the glasses are still a few months away before being available for Aura will also need to be tethered to a device, very much like multiple previous Xreal glasses. Though this seems a bit inconvenient at first, it means that the glasses don't run out of battery after just a couple of hours of operation. This is, for the time being, a necessary step as XR looks to usurp the smartphone as the computing platform of the future. More details about Xreal's Project Aura can be found here. Aura will be one of the earliest adopters of Android XR, and I cannot wait to see what Xreal has in store for those of us who have our fingers crossed for a VR future.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
‘What if AI had eyes': meet Chinese firm Xreal, Google's partner in AR glasses project
Chinese augmented reality (AR) firm Xreal is back in the spotlight via a partnership with Google to create the first eyewear powered by the US tech giant's Android XR operating system, intensifying competition in the nascent market for spectacles supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The start-up 's venture with Google, dubbed Project Aura, was among the key announcements made on Tuesday at the opening of the US internet search company's annual I/O developer conference, which concluded on Wednesday. Project Aura – with the tagline 'what if AI had eyes' – features a pair of lightweight, tethered Xreal AR glasses powered by Qualcomm 's Snapdragon processor. The smart glasses will offer a dual-mode augmented reality experience; optical see-through, which is a direct overlay of digital content onto a real-world view; and virtual see-through, which blends camera-captured images with digital elements, according to Google and Xreal. Without providing more details, Xreal founder and chief executive Xu Chi said the new AR glasses are expected to hit the consumer market later in 2025 or early next year, according to his interview with Bloomberg.
