Google’s push into XR is in full swing, and we just got a clearer picture of what that face-worn wearable future will look like. In a special XR edition of Google’s recurring Android Show, the company gave a preview of two devices that haven’t been released yet. Probably the best look we got was of its Project Aura, a pair of AR glasses being developed in tandem with Xreal.
While we’ve seen renders of the smart glasses previously, Google showed Project Aura off in action with a pre-recorded demo, giving a firsthand look at some of the functionality, UI, and a puck that actually handles the computing for the glasses.
As far as functionality goes, Project Aura appears to work similarly to how you’d expect if you’re familiar with other wired XR glasses. Mostly, it acts as a big virtual screen for “spatial computing” and watching stuff like YouTube, which isn’t groundbreaking in the smart glasses world but would be novel for Google-made hardware. Like other spatial computers (i.e., Apple’s visionOS), Google similarly envisions you wearing Project Aura to do stuff like multitasking with Android apps and…following along with recipes? The latter use case feels a little weird to me, considering the combination of wearing wired glasses and holding a sharp knife, but I’ll suspend my disbelief until I try them on for myself.
Project Aura, as Google showed, is also intended to be used in tandem with laptops as an additional display, so theoretically, you could use the smart glasses and their 70-degree field of view to do stuff like video editing at a coffee shop. Whether you feel comfortable wearing these smart glasses and pinching the air in public is another question entirely, but that’s the direction Google is nudging you in.
Here’s a first look at XREAL’s Project Aura, a pair of Android XR glasses powered by a tethered puck that houses the computer and battery. Together with Gemini, you can watch YouTube videos, browse the internet or use them as a virtual work setup. pic.twitter.com/c9Pk4TFpJr
— Nathie (@NathieVR) December 8, 2025
The UI inside the smart glasses looks fairly familiar if you’ve used or seen Android XR, Google’s XR operating system, which debuted on the Samsung Galaxy XR headset in October. Just like the Galaxy XR, Project Aura appears to be controlled with a combination of both hand and eye tracking. I’m curious to see how bright, sharp, and high-def the screen is, though, since that will be a major indicator of how effective Project Aura really is at doing any of the stuff Google says you can do. For that, we’ll have to wait; Google says it’s planning to release Project Aura next year.
In addition to XR glasses, Google also gave a small preview of a second category of unreleased wearable: AI glasses. While we didn’t get a ton of information on that front, Google at least showed off a prototype that it’s developing in partnership with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Similar to Meta and its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, Google’s AI glasses appear to blend more seamlessly with a regular glasses form factor and rely on cameras to offer computer vision as a defining feature.
Just like Meta, Google says it’s envisioning two categories of AI smart glasses: one with a display and one without. While smart glasses with a display could act as a second screen for notifications, navigation, and translation, the screenless variety will lean on audio, pictures/video, and AI via Gemini. There’s not much groundbreaking here, but it definitely positions Google’s future AI smart glasses as a direct competitor to Meta and both varieties of its Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses. Google says these smart glasses will also arrive next year.
There’s obviously still a lot more to learn about both ends of Google’s unreleased XR smart glasses, but it’s clear that it’s taking a multi-tier approach to hardware. If you want a light dose of XR, you’ve got AI glasses. There’s wired XR for a happy medium. And if you’re ready to be fully immersed, there’s Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset. One thing is for sure: there’s a lot of XR incoming, and Google intends to be right in the middle of it.
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