Club Benefits
It used to be so simple: If you wanted a VR headset, you could go for something relatively affordable, or something a little pricier for higher fidelity and more processing power.
Then Apple steamrolled in with its big ideas and started charging thousands of dollars for a new computing paradigm, and while the Apple Vision Pro never really took off with mass market appeal, it has opened the door ajar for further innovation that falls somewhere between it and something like Google Glass (remember that?).
The latest model to step through that door is Xreal’s new Project Aura, and it’s doing a few things differently to its contemporaries (I’m not even sure we can describe them all as rivals). Here’s why the Android XR stands apart from some of its more traditional rivals.
Aura Farming
This year's Google I/O showed off some audio-centric smart glasses that, in fairness, looked much more useful than many (this writer) might have expected them to be. Still, it was Project Aura, the long-gestating project from Xreal that really turned heads, literally.
From the front, they’re big ol’ sunglasses that wouldn’t look out of place on a rack at just about any store, but look closer, and you’ll find there are a trio of cameras for photo and video capture, and popping them on reveals a very respectable (given the form factor) 70-degree FOV.
It’s running Google’s Android XR, and connects to a sort of computing “puck” that looks about the same size as a phone. That’s where all the magic happens, meaning you can run apps like Google Chrome in the eyewear, while it also doubles as a trackpad, which is neat.
Ahead of the pack?
This all sounds terrific, but Project Aura doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It doesn’t have a price point yet, so we don’t know how many kidneys we’ll need to sell (and after Vision Pro, we’re running low).
Android XR is also developing nicely, but you don’t have to buy the latest device for it. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy XR is pretty solid, but it eschews the more compact form factor for something more traditional (and, if we’re being honest, similar to Vision Pro).
Still, this feels like the closest we’re going to get to the smart eyewear we envisaged watching sci-fi shows as kids, something echoed by my colleague Jason England when he went hands-on.
He called it the “missing link” between using a laptop and something much more portable, and I couldn’t be happier to hear it.
I enjoy my Meta Quest 3 for its wide range of apps, experiences, and games, but you won’t see me (or anyone else) walking down the street with it. In fact, it actually feels a little antiquated now: “What do you mean it’s mostly VR with very little AR?”
Ultimately, I’d imagine that much of the Xreal Project Aura’s appeal will come down to how integrated you are into Android. I work on a Mac and an iPad, track my fitness on an Apple Watch, and have an iPhone 15 Pro Max close to my hands at all times — so it’s probably not for me.
Still, as a proof of concept, it gives its rivals much to think about, and if Xreal can somehow nail the pricing, we could be tiptoeing to a real watershed moment for AR.
For now, though, I’m going to be waiting for an Apple equivalent while looking jealously at it.
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