Google didn’t share a release date or pricing information, but said the XR smart glasses will have a global launch in 2026. Project Aura runs on Google’s Android XR platform and developers will soon have the chance to create XR experiences for the device through the Android XR Developer Catalyst program.
Some of the demos that Google is highlighting at I/O include immersive versions of Google Maps, VR YouTube videos at 180- and 360-degrees, a vibe-coded painting app, and “a giant screen viewing and a mini-screen experience for multitasking on Project Aura’s extended reality canvas.”
Xreal Project defines Aura as an “optical-see-through” device, meaning it’s a pair of smart glasses with a high-resolution screen and a wide field of view. This is optically distinct from a pair of smart glasses equipped with displays like the Meta Ray-Ban Display, which essentially uses a waveguide to beam pixels into a small transparent screen embedded in a lens.
I’ll get a chance to try out Project Aura after the keynote today, but I expect the Project Aura Meta to sit somewhere between the Ray-Ban Display and the Apple Vision Pro. The compact and open design means you probably won’t get the same immersion as more enclosed XR headsets, but the higher-resolution screen should provide both greater clarity and a larger display for “spatial computing.”
We already know that Project Aura will have a 70-degree field of view, which is significantly wider than the 57-degree FOV in Xreal’s current, top-of-the-line One Pro AR smart glasses. This wider FOV on Project Aura should mean there is more “spatial surface area” to anchor the app window. Xreal also confirmed that Project Aura has three embedded cameras (one on each side of the frame and one in the nose bridge) for hand and eye tracking controls.
Here’s the first look at XREAL’s Project Aura, a pair of Android XR glasses powered by a tethered puck that houses a computer and battery. With Gemini, you can watch YouTube videos, browse the Internet, or use them as a virtual work setup. pic.twitter.com/c9Pk4TFpJr
– Nathie (@NathieVR) 8 December 2025
Project Aura is also one wired Pair of smart glasses. Although it has a custom-designed Xreal X1S chip, it will rely on a connection to a compute “puck”. Xreal confirmed in December that this Compute Puck will have a battery to power Project Aura and will also serve as a trackpad to control the smart glasses’ interface.
The part I’m most excited to try is the built-in Gemini intelligence. How will Google’s AI chatbot make XR experiences easier and more intuitive than seeing digital objects in front of your eyes? Google says Project Aura can “plug into a laptop via DisplayPort-in to extend the device’s multimodal AI capabilities into a three-dimensional AR space on the laptop, including integrated Gemini support and autospatialization.” Google also says there will be “next generation AI-powered XR games” for Project Aura.
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