Xreal founder Chi Xu believes the smart-glasses industry is nearing an inflection point. Speaking at Google’s I/O in Mountain View while promoting Xreal’s Project Aura, he acknowledged that “everybody’s losing money,” but argued that smaller hardware, better s
For years, smart glasses have felt like Silicon Valley’s favorite bet with the worst odds—lightweight computing on your face, in theory, but a decade of bulky hardware, awkward social presence, and software that never quite delivered.
Chi Xu doesn’t pretend it’s been easy. “Everybody’s losing money. ” the founder and CEO of Xreal said. in a meeting with MISRYOUM at Google’s I/O conference in Mountain View last week. Xu was there promoting Xreal’s Project Aura. the company’s latest push toward XR glasses people might actually want to use.
“That’s because it’s very hard,” Xu said.
The reason. according to industry insiders and Xreal’s own view. used to be predictable: the form factor and the user experience simply weren’t where they needed to be. Now, Xu believes the equation is changing. As glasses get smaller and software gets better. he thinks Xreal can move from perennial experiment to real leader in the category.
A big part of that optimism traces to Meta’s 2023 partnership with Ray-Ban. The line of glasses built from that collaboration managed to sell a lot of units—something the smart-glasses market hadn’t consistently seen at scale. Even so, the division behind the hardware, Meta’s Reality Labs, is still operating at a massive loss.
Xu’s pitch is that smart glasses may be getting the “key pieces” together at the same time: “You need all the key pieces ready — you need the hardware ready, the operating system needs to be ready, and then you need a great user interface.”
Xreal’s newest model, Aura, is wired smart glasses with OLED displays embedded inside the frames. The catch is power and processing: the glasses come tethered to a “puck. ” described as a phone-shaped mini-computer that powers the experience. Users can slip that puck into a pocket while using the glasses.
The puck is awkward, Xu’s world seems to concede—but the company argues it buys capability. Aura is positioned for immersive experiences including a Google Maps app. VR YouTube videos. and a “painting app” that uses hand tracking to create holographic imagery only you can see. Xreal also points to games playable via hand tracking and basic web surfing functionality.
The company’s promise is that these use cases don’t feel stitched together: “Whether 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,” it says.
Xu says he sees the device stretching beyond entertainment. “It’s 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,” he said.
Right now, Aura is available only for developers. The plan is to launch commercially later this year.
There’s also a longer-term financial horizon in play. Xreal is working on an IPO expected to take place before 2026 is over, though Xu declined to share more details.
The immediate milestone is simpler and harder: turning profit. In the meantime, Xu says the business is moving in that direction—raising its gross margin while lowering costs for marketing and sales. “Next year is the year when we could actually break even,” he said.
The smart-glasses dream has survived many cycles of hype and disappointment. But in the hands of Xreal’s latest hardware—and with an industry trying to translate “seamless” experiences into real adoption—the question is no longer just whether the tech can work. It’s whether anyone can finally afford to keep it running.
Xreal Chi Xu Project Aura smart glasses XR glasses Google I/O OLED displays puck hand tracking Google Maps VR YouTube IPO gross margin break even