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XREAL today confirmed it’s launching Project Aura sometime this year, making them the first pair of AR glasses running Google’s Android XR operating system.

Xreal and Google showcased Project Aura at Google I/O today, further confirming the wired AR glasses are set to launch globally in 2026.

On stage, Project Aura was shown off running an immersive version of Google Maps, traditional video content across both a massive screen and a mini-screen for multitasking, as well as immersive 180 and 360-degree YouTube videos.

Xreal and Google additionally showed off Project Aura working via DisplayPort-in with a laptop, which includes integrated Gemini support and “autospatialization,” Xreal’s onboard process of making flatscreen games, images, and videos 3D on the fly.

“Today’s demonstrations offered an early glimpse into that future, one where AI, spatial interfaces, and immersive content seamlessly work together in a wearable form factor,” Xreal says in a press statement.

We first went hands-on with Project Aura late last year, which initially proved to be an interesting offering from the newly-minted partnership, albeit a decidedly less risky one since Xreal is mostly sticking to a well-worn playbook by offering birdbath optics aided by a fairly shaded pair of electrochromically dimmed lenses to compensate for light loss.

That said, Project Aura is remarkably lightweight, owing to its tethered compute puck, and has sharp displays, compact design, and good portability. We’re of course still waiting to see whether Xreal will expand input beyond using the compute puck as a trackpad, or its optical hand-tracking, and hopefully learn more closer to launch sometime later this year.

While Project Aura will be the first pair of AR glasses to run Android XR, they’re far from the only XR device to do so. In late 2025, Samsung released its Galaxy XR standalone mixed reality headset, the first official device to run Android XR. Soon to release are also a fleet of smart glasses from a variety of companies working with Samsung and Google, including Warby Parker, Gentle Monster, and Kering.

XREAL Project Aura Specs (Known So Far)