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The smart glasses industry has long been a tortured dream of Silicon Valley. The premise is appealing enough: What if, to enjoy the benefits of mobile computing, people didn\u2019t have to stare at their phones all day long and could, instead, simply wear a lightweight computing device on their face? Science fiction fans (a demographic that is strong in the tech industry) can see this vision perfectly.<\/p>\n
However, the industry has \u2014 for much of the last decade \u2014 resembled a financial black hole into which gargantuan investments<\/a> have been sunk and from which little to no profit has ever emerged.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s losing money,\u201d said Chi Xu, the founder and CEO of the smart glasses company Xreal, which is a longtime partner of Google. I met Xu at Google\u2019s I\/O conference in Mountain View last week, where he was promoting Xreal\u2019s Project Aura. That\u2019s its latest effort to create a set of functional XR glasses that people actually want to use.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s because it\u2019s very hard, what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n For much of the industry\u2019s existence, the problems of smart glasses have seemed somewhat obvious: bulky, uncomfortable, and socially awkward form factor, paired with negligibly beneficial software. Now, however, industry insiders \u2014 including Xu \u2014 feel like their business has turned a corner and may be reaching an inflection point.<\/p>\n That supposed inflection point has something to do with Meta, whose 2023 partnership with Ray-Ban launched one of the first lines of models<\/a> that has actually managed to sell a lot of units. (It\u2019s worth noting, however, that the division<\/a> responsible for the glasses, Reality Labs, still operates at a massive loss<\/a>.) <\/p>\n Now, as form factors shrink and software improves, Xu feels that Xreal can finally become a leader in the space. \u201cYou need all the key pieces ready \u2014 you need the hardware ready, the operating system needs to be ready, and then you need a great user interface,\u201d Xu said.<\/p>\n Xreal\u2019s newest model Aura is wired smart glasses that have OLED displays embedded within them, meaning that you can watch high-resolution videos within the frames themselves. Somewhat awkwardly, Aura comes tethered to a \u201cpuck\u201d \u2014 essentially a phone-shaped mini-computer that powers the experience behind the glasses. When using it, you can ostensibly just slip it into your pocket.<\/p>\n But in exchange for the awkwardness of the puck, the user gets a wider variety of fun experiences<\/a> with the glasses, including an immersive Google Maps app<\/a>, VR YouTube videos, and a \u201cpainting app\u201d that lets you \u2014 via the powers of hand tracking \u2014\u00a0create holographic imagery that only you can see. There are also reportedly<\/a> games, playable (again) via hand tracking, and basic web surfing functionality.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you are following a floating recipe while cooking, setting up a private workspace at a coffee shop or on a flight, or watching a movie on a virtual big screen at home, the experience is seamless,\u201d the company promises<\/a>.<\/p>\n Xu also says that he imagines the device being used not just by the casual consumer but by professionals as well. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about watching the NBA game in a hologram type of format, you could also go to a coffee shop and do some work,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Currently, the glasses are only available for developers, but the plan is for them to launch commercially later this year. Xreal is also working on an IPO that is expected to take place before 2026 is over, although Xu declined to say much about it.<\/p>\n In the meantime, the company is working on that whole turning-a-profit thing. Xu notes that his company has been raising its gross margin while lowering its costs for marketing and sales. \u201cNext year is the year when we could actually break even,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n