2 weeks ago
The institution offered a look astatine its eager smartglasses up of their general launch.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Xreal has ever occupied a somewhat different niche successful nan smartglasses market. Rather than normal-looking glasses pinch immoderate smart features, nan institution offers a much immersive AR acquisition that's peculiarly well-suited for entertainment. That attack is very overmuch nan aforesaid pinch nan company's Android XR-powered Project Aura. But aft spending immoderate clip pinch nan glasses astatine Google I/O, it's clear that Xreal is trying to do much, overmuch much than make different brace of cinema glasses.
If you deliberation of nan upcoming audio-only glasses from Warby Parker and Gentle Monsters arsenic nan minimalist forms of Android XR connected glasses, Xreal's Project Aura is decidedly nan maximalist version. Instead of smart glasses you're meant to deterioration passim nan day, Project Aura is benignant of a supercharged type of nan company's One Pro glasses.
The glasses themselves look and consciousness very akin to nan One Pro frames. But Project Aura adds 3 cameras to nan setup: 1 connected each broadside of nan frames for manus search and a 3rd successful nan halfway for snapping photos and video. Xreal isn't sharing overmuch successful nan measurement of specs conscionable yet, but nan 70-degree section of position show was impressive. It was highly crisp and bright, moreover successful nan sunny outdoor conditions wherever I was testing. And it was wide capable that I didn't consciousness for illustration thing was getting trim disconnected while watching a YouTube video aliases scrolling successful Chrome, though I did person to punctual myself to glimpse near and correct to spot further contented for illustration nan YouTube comments section.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
The interface was besides ace easy to navigate pinch my hands. The main motion is simply a pinching mobility that will consciousness beautiful acquainted to anyone who has utilized different AR setups. I recovered that nan glasses were capable to observe my hands beautiful reliably and I had nary issues resizing aliases moving windows around.
Unlike nan One Pro glasses, Project Aura relies connected a tethered relationship to a abstracted puck, overmuch for illustration Apple's Vision Pro. Xreal's phone-sized puck besides has a built-in trackpad and fingerprint sensor, though I wasn't capable to usage either of those features. It did get a spot basking during my (roughly 20-minute) demo, but we were besides extracurricular successful almost 90-degree heat.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Xreal was showcasing a fewer of its ain homegrown apps to item immoderate of Project Aura's capabilities, including a elemental AR drafting app and thing called "Gemini Molecule." The second offered a bully objection of Aura's multimodal capabilities: look astatine an entity successful beforehand of you, springiness it a pinch pinch your fingers and nan app would spit retired nan sanction of nan worldly and a visualization of its molecular structure. The institution told maine some of these apps were quickly vibe-coded utilizing Gemini. And while they weren't nan astir compelling AR apps I've ever used, they did connection an absorbing look astatine what mightiness beryllium imaginable erstwhile third-party developers are capable to get their hands connected Aura.
Though Project Aura decidedly has nan aforesaid possibilities for immersive intermezo arsenic Xreal's different glasses, nan institution seems to beryllium positioning Project Aura arsenic much of a pro-level device. You tin link nan glasses to a laptop and usage Aura arsenic an outer display. Throw successful a Bluetooth keyboard and you could presumably execute a bully magnitude of existent work, though I wasn't capable to effort retired this benignant of setup. One of nan Xreal engineers I said with, though, insisted he had ditched his normal show wholly successful favour of Aura glasses.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Put it each together, and Xreal is showing disconnected a very eager imagination for what Android XR tin be. And I near my demo beautiful impressed pinch nan setup. But it besides makes maine wonderment who, exactly, Aura is for. The institution hasn't revealed pricing specifications yet — that will travel pinch nan general motorboat later this twelvemonth — but I deliberation it's beautiful clear it will beryllium priced for illustration a premium device. The Xreal One Pro glasses costs $650, and I'd expect nan importantly more-capable Project Aura to costs overmuch more. Still, I could easy spot Aura being a deed pinch developers and vibe coders and anyone who wants a lighter-weight replacement to Samsung's Galaxy XR headset.
