XR glasses at I/O: Trying out Project Aura and Google's prototype

Contents

Less is sometimes more: Meta has had this experience with its smart glasses. While the major project Metaverse consumed a lot of money and was not well received, the US company sold over seven million units of its AI glasses (Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta) in 2025 alone. Wearables that do not completely isolate users from reality are apparently more popular than purely virtual worlds. Apple is also said to have glasses in the pipeline for the future, after spatial computing with the Vision Pro also remained a niche solution. And Google? The company recently presented new glasses in collaboration with Warby Parker, Gentle Monster, and Samsung at the I/O developer conference. But that's not all.

The extent to which Google is driven by this topic is evident from how strongly the company has been focusing on Android XR recently. A prototype could already be viewed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona . Now, at the I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, there were also demos: in the so-called AI Sandbox, a large hall on the event grounds. heise online was able to participate in two demos on site.

Google showed two devices in action: In addition to its own nameless prototype with AI voice control, cameras, and a built-in small display, Project Aura was also demonstrated, the XR glasses from Xreal and Google.

Project Aura: The Bridge

Project Aura is a kind of bridge between the mixed reality visions of recent years and smart glasses. Even its appearance combines the classic design of conventional glasses with headset technology. Project Aura has a display in each lens, built-in speakers, and multiple cameras, thus delivering a complete XR experience in a glasses housing.

When putting them on, the device feels significantly more comfortable than classic VR headsets, as the shielding is omitted and the glasses feel lighter. However, from the inside, the attached display components are visible – an unusual sight. And Aura has also copied something from the Vision Pro: a cable-connected block that not only contains the battery but also the computing unit.

The field of view is 70 degrees – significantly more than the 57 degrees of the previous top model Xreal One Pro. This is wide enough to display three app windows side-by-side; up to five can be open simultaneously. The display brightness is good, text and graphics appear sharp. A button on the right temple allows you to control the dimming of the lenses – which is practical when you don't want to be disturbed.

Lower Barrier to Entry

Hand control worked quite well in the short test: Pinch gestures for selecting and moving app windows are intuitive and reminiscent of the control of the Vision Pro or the Meta Quest 3. A gaming demo was particularly fun: In the role-playing game Demeo, the game field could be grabbed, rotated, and scaled with both clenched fists – individual game figures could be picked up and moved with a pinch. This feels significantly more immersive than classic controller control.

But what makes the difference above all: The lighter such a device is, the lower the barrier to entry for putting it on more often. Project Aura is scheduled to go on sale worldwide in 2026. The "Android XR Developer Catalyst Program" with early hardware access is starting now for developers. The manufacturer has not yet communicated the price or a specific date. For comparison: Xreal's current top model One Pro costs 599 Euros after a recent price reduction.

Google's Prototype Glasses

Google's device is even lighter, but with the display switched on, it only offers a small window in the field of view. However, this is perfectly sufficient for many applications: Direction arrows in navigation, map sections, widgets, live translations, and short messages fit in here easily, while reality remains largely visible. The demo showed the progress Google is making compared to previous presentations.

The glasses are light, can be fitted with prescription lenses, and offer good visibility. The plastic frame doesn't look high-quality yet, but it's definitely noticeable as a technology gadget. It's clear that it's a smart pair of glasses.

Operation is simple: A long press on the side activates Gemini, a button on the underside switches on the display. Operation with German language works without problems. Only with the audio output did we notice in the test in the AI Sandbox that the sound is sometimes difficult to understand in noisy environments. Here, holding your hands over the temples can help.

And what can you do with it? In the test, we captured objects with the camera and added them directly to the shopping list. German national team's World Cup matches could be found on command and entered into the Google Calendar with a voice command. Live translation was particularly convincing: A spontaneous conversation in Portuguese – topic: the legendary 7:1 in the Football World Cup – was flawlessly translated into German by the glasses in real-time.

Navigation is well thought out: looking down shows a map view that can be zoomed in by swiping – lifting your gaze shows a direction arrow instead. In another demo, a board game was recognized on command and instructions on how to win the game were provided. When looking at a concert poster, the glasses played the artist's music upon request. Google relies on a split-compute architecture: computationally intensive AI tasks are offloaded to the smartphone or the cloud, so that the glasses themselves remain as light as possible.

Many Questions Remain Open

As much as the trials can provide a sense of whether one sees value in smart glasses, they answer very few crucial questions surrounding them: How long does the battery last? And will glasses with visible cameras gain social acceptance, or will they cause discomfort to people in their field of view? With its AI model Gemini, Google has fulfilled an important prerequisite. Nevertheless, the question also arises here: Do users, for example, in public, really want to talk to the AI more often? Or would they rather do that at home? But do they need glasses for that? Or isn't the smartphone sufficient?

(mki)