Samsung is working on Android XR tech but so is Xreal with its Project Aura, and stylish eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. And Google’s promise of it “starting with” these brands suggests more partners are on the way.

Xreal's launch is significant as Google tries to become a major operating system for virtual and augmented reality smart glasses and headsets.

We told you Google would be gunning for Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses with its Android XR “spatial computing” platform that was announced last year. At its I/O developer conference today, the tech giant said it’s teaming up with Xreal for a pair of next-gen augmented reality smart glasses called Project Aura.