Google partners with Chinese startup for smart glasses comeback

More than a decade after the initial market challenges of Google Glass, Google is re-entering the smart glasses space through a collaboration with Chinese startup XREAL.

First announced at Google I/O 2025 and later detailed at this week's Augmented World Expo 2025 in California, U.S., the glasses, codenamed Project Aura, are an optical see-through (OST) extended reality (XR) device built for the Android XR platform. It marks the second official device announced for Android XR, following Samsung's Project Moohan mixed-reality headset that was also highlighted at Google I/O.

The glasses house a souped-up X1S silicon chip designed by XREAL and specifically tailored for XR experience.  

"We have invented and designed some specific ASICs, the hardware ASICs for XR processing, which can bridge all the data of the sensors of the AR glasses," co-founder of XREAL Wu Kejian told CGTN. 

The data bridging on AR glasses, refers to gathering, processing and integrating information from the real world with digital content. It essentially "bridges the gap" between the virtual and physical realms for a cohesive augmented reality experience. For Project Aura, this complex capability is integrated into the X1S chip within the sunglasses-like product, working in tandem with an external computing device, whereas traditional AR devices are often bulky headsets.

According to Wu, their chip design also significantly reduces motion-to-photon latency to as short as three milliseconds. "We can make sure the virtual display of the AR glasses can be motion tracked and anchored in space," he added.

To minimize the weight of the glasses and enhance comfort, much of the heavier processing work is offloaded to a tethered "puck-like" computing device, powered by an unspecified Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. This external unit handles the demanding computational tasks and can connect to a smartphone or computer for broader digital media access.

Additionally, Project Aura will be integrated with Google's Gemini AI for intuitive spatial computing experiences. 

"This is really (possible) through a joint force between these three companies," Wu said. "I don't think any company in the world can make the entire stack of these AR glasses, all the way from the hardware itself, the silicon chip, the operating system, and all the way on up to the applications."

The choice of XREAL as a key partner for Project Aura underscores Google's commitment to advancing the AR ecosystem. According Wu, this collaboration stems from a shared vision as "true AR believers" and XREAL's established market leadership – it has been the global leader for AR glasses for three consecutive years with over 600,000 units shipped.

"So, we still see this needs to be a joint collaboration between tech companies, including tech giants and brilliant startups across the world," Wu added.

A robust growing supply chain in China

The ability to deliver tens of thousands of units in challenging and often unstable periods stands as an evident testament to China's industry resilience.

This stands in stark contrast to the early days of smart glasses. Recalling the early challenges of Google Glass, co-founder Sergey Brin commented on the difficulty of building smart glasses at a reasonable price point.

"I didn't know anything about consumer electronic supply chains, or how hard it would be to build smart glasses at a reasonable price point," said Brin during a live interview at the Google I/O 2025 reflecting upon Google Glass.

That supply chain is now in full run in China.

"China really benefits from the smartphone industry over the past decades," Wu said. He explained that the advanced manufacturing capabilities developed for smartphones have largely transferred to smart glasses, including both AI and AR variants. Wu noted that for simpler AI glasses, which typically involve optics with basic text display capabilities, components can now be fully sourced and manufactured domestically.

To further advance the overall supply chain of AR glasses in China, XREAL and its manufacturer Longcheer established an industry alliance in February with two other key suppliers, North Ocean Photonics (a wafer-level optics specialist) and Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical. 

"The goal is to integrate our technical standards, establish a complete industry chain, and support development of Chinese brands," said Zheng Qiang, deputy general manager of Longcheer. 

"In the long term, we aim to build a highly coordinated AI/AR ecosystem, laying the groundwork for a major breakthrough in L4 smart glasses by 2027," Zheng said in an interview with CGTN.

Longcheer, a Shanghai-based original design manufacturer (ODM) specializing in smart electronics, is behind XREAL's AR glasses. The company has produced electronic devices for global tech giants including Xiaomi, Samsung Electronics and OPPO. According to data from Counterpoint, Longcheer captured approximately 33 percent of global ODM smartphone shipments in 2024, ranking as the world's largest smartphone ODM by volume.

Longcheer began expanding into the VR/AR sector as early as 2015. According to its 2024 annual report, the company has delivered more than two million units of smart glasses in collaboration with leading global internet and technology clients.

But China's smart glasses hardware sector didn't fully mature until recently. The industry has gained fresh momentum from the rapid emergence of AI glasses and broader ecosystem development including industry upgrade and supply chain optimization. According to Zheng, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of this sector may have exceeded 50 percent.

One significant shift is the shortening of the preorder lead time. That cycle has been reduced thanks in part to the rise of more suppliers.

"This has significantly improved the resilience of our entire supply chain," Zheng said. "The introduction of more suppliers has created real opportunities to reduce the overall cost of the final product across the entire industry," he added.

However, outside uncertainties, particularly the impact of U.S. tariffs, continue to challenge Chinese companies expanding overseas. For XREAL, where the North American market accounts for about one-third of its total sales, this challenge is particularly pertinent. In response, the company has actively diversified and expanded its markets into Japan, the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

"We believe in long-term strategy," Wu said. "Innovation is the ultimate resilience against market cycles."

The future of smart glasses

Looking beyond current market dynamics and strategies for resilience, the future of smart glasses is being rapidly shaped by advancements in artificial intelligence. With the emergence of numerous AI models, a physical product embedded with AI capability has become a more tangible scenario for businesses and consumers.

Wu believed that the development of smart glasses is still in its early stage, and that innovation remains at the core of tech competition. 

XREAL's founder, Xu Chi, believed that smart glasses will be the last display before brain-computer interface becomes more widely adopted. 

"It's going to replace a majority of your electronics," Xu said in an interview with CGTN in January.

Longcheer's Zheng has a more optimistic view on the future of smart glasses. 

"In the long run, if smart glasses can achieve the weight and overall appearance of ordinary eyeglasses, without the obtrusive feel of a large camera, then I believe people will gradually adopt them, replacing traditional eyeglasses," Zheng said.

"I believe that in the next three to five years, more Chinese manufacturers similar to XREAL will emerge," he added.