Recently, Xreal CEO Xu Chi held a two-hour in-depth dialogue with Dianwan Tech AK regarding the future of AR, AI, and the tech industry. They discussed disassembling Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, commented on the pros and cons of various domestic AI glasses products, and revealed why Google chose to partner with Xreal for the Android XR ecosystem.
While the entire tech industry is reveling in the hype of AI glasses, Xu Chi threw out a calm, even somewhat “rebellious” viewpoint: “Most current AI glasses might be on the wrong path.”
So, what is the right path to the “next-generation computing platform”? Why does Xreal resolutely refuse to enter the current AI glasses melee? How can a Chinese tech company find its irreplaceable ecological niche amidst the hunting of global giants?
Below are the core answers extracted by the editor from this 20,000-word dialogue.
Xu Chi’s Background and Current Status & Challenges of the XR Industry
- Xu Chi’s Background
- Zhejiang University science and engineering background, went to the US for a PhD researching CPU and GPU architectures.
- Formerly worked in NVIDIA’s GPU core team.
- Joined Magic Leap to start his XR industry journey, accumulating nearly a decade of experience.
- Returned to China in early 2017, founded Nreal (later renamed Xreal), focusing on XR hardware products.
- XR Industry Development History
- XR commercialization exploration has been difficult; the market is still in “no man’s land.”
- Nreal products transformed from a lighter, cheaper Magic Leap alternative to movie-watching glasses, now returning to the positioning of spatial computing terminals.
- Google launched the Android XR operating system, supporting three forms:
- Samsung Moohan (Galaxy XR) headset style, similar to Vision Pro.
- Xreal glasses form (split-type, paired with a central computing box).
- Samsung monocular AI glasses (similar to Meta Display).
- All-day Wearing vs. All-day Carrying
- Google Glass pursued all-day wearing; Xreal and most XR devices emphasize all-day carrying (similar to sunglasses), convenient for use anytime but not for long-term wearing.
- Industry Pain Points and Market Environment
- Domestic XR manufacturers generally suffer from excessive promotion and false marketing, damaging consumer trust and hindering healthy industry development.
- The XR industry has high technical thresholds and huge R&D investments, making profitability difficult in the short term, a challenge faced by both overseas giants and domestic companies.
- Domestic R&D is mostly “implementation” rather than “exploration,” lacking original breakthroughs.
- The industry needs to establish correct aesthetics and objective evaluation standards to avoid a vicious cycle of “bad money driving out good.”
- Responsible enterprises and media are needed to speak up and promote positive ecological development.
Industry Ecology, User Cognition, and AI Glasses Development Trends
- Role of Media and Consumers
- Domestic content production largely relies on vendor advertising, lacking independent and objective evaluations, causing market information asymmetry.
- Users have limited understanding of XR product technology and are easily misled by exaggerated promotions.
- Brands are built on “absolute trust when users lack information”; false propaganda damages brand value.
- Current State of the AI Glasses Market
- Current AI glasses are still in the early exploration stage, mostly experimental products.
- The industry generally expects 2027-2028 to be the first year of AI glasses, when core hardware (chips, sensors) and AI capabilities will mature.
- Future AI glasses will realize an intelligent assistant similar to “Iron Man’s Jarvis,” providing personalized, contextual information services.
- Current products are mostly transitional forms with limited functions, requiring users to cultivate habits and cognition.
- Meta Ray-Ban Case Analysis
- The Ray-Ban Meta series combines fashion and tech elements, driving market attention.
- The second-generation product improved camera quality, battery life, and sound quality, plus AI hype drove sales growth.
- However, overall AI functions still haven’t met user expectations; although sales grew, they fell short of expectations (approx. 1.1 million units in the first half of 2023).
- Essential difference between fashion items and consumer electronics: Fashion items focus on trends; consumer electronics focus on continuous functional iteration.
Android XR Ecology and Details of Xreal’s Cooperation with Google
- Google Android XR Ecology
- Three hardware forms coexist: Samsung focuses on headsets, Xreal on glasses form, and Samsung also has monocular AI glasses.
- Samsung headsets (Galaxy XR) are bulky, suitable for specific scenarios but not portable.
- Android XR ecology integrates Google Gemini AI and numerous native apps (YouTube, Google Maps, etc.), suitable for B-side and developers.
- Xreal cooperates with Google, undertaking glasses-form hardware development, defining hardware standards, with the first-generation product Aura launching in 2025.
- Aura glasses have a field of view of about 70 degrees, split design (glasses + computing box), supporting binocular spatial tracking and gesture recognition.
- Xreal’s Technical Advantages
- Self-developed chip, Motion-to-Photon latency about 3ms, industry-leading, ensuring stable display without jitter.
- Fully autonomous optical system design, owning its own factory, ensuring mass production and quality control.
- Optimized sound quality experience through cooperation with BOSE.
- Industry Competition and Ecological Cooperation
- Xreal and Samsung are not direct competitors but ecological partners, both relying on the Android XR system, with differentiated product forms.
- Google adopts a “lead hardware partner” strategy, first pushing a few products to success, then gradually expanding the cooperation camp (Xiaomi, OV, etc.).
- A major industry reshuffle is expected in the coming years, with giants dominating the market.
Evaluation of Domestic XR Manufacturers’ Products and Market, and Future Outlook for AI Glasses
- Observations on Domestic Manufacturers
- Most products remain at the stage of supply chain integration, lacking core innovation.
- Typical representatives like Lei Nia X3 Pro have technical highlights (optical engine miniaturization, full-color display) but suffer from obvious reflection, poor control experience, and insufficient battery life.
- Battery life issues are particularly prominent; under long-bright-screen conditions, battery life is only about 40-50 minutes, standby 2-3 hours.
- User scenarios are mostly “usage exploration,” such as driving recording, translation assistance, etc.; experience still needs polishing.
- Excessive promotion severely mismatches consumer expectations, easily causing brand trust crises.
- Technical Challenges of AI Glasses
- Core technologies like sensors, chips, and optics are still under deep “underwater” R&D and are not yet mature.
- Future AI glasses need to achieve low power consumption and intelligent perception (e.g., eye tracking, scene recognition) to extend battery life and improve interaction experience.
- Although current monochrome display solutions have cost advantages, color full-color display is more favored by the mainstream market.
- Software ecology and interaction experience urgently need improvement; functions like navigation, gesture recognition, and AI assistance need further optimization.
- Industry Ecology and Market Environment
- Capital markets and media lack understanding of the XR industry, leading to excessive hype and rampant false propaganda.
- Domestic platform business models tend towards multi-brand coexistence, which is反而 unfavorable for outstanding products to stand out.
- The XR industry needs more specialized, long-term invested enterprises and media support for sustainable development.
Detailed Introduction to Xreal Products, Technical Barriers, and Future Development
- Xreal Development History
- Released the first product Light at CES 2019, positioned as a “cheaper and better” Magic Leap alternative.
- Encountered patent litigation from Magic Leap, eventually winning, confirming technological autonomy and controllability.
- Early cooperation with South Korean operators, adapting to Samsung flagship phones, accumulating user feedback.
- Gradually focused on the “iPod” strategy: concentrating on a few core scenarios (like movie watching) rather than “doing everything at once.”
- Iterated Air series products, continuously optimizing wearing comfort, display effects, and latency performance.
- Core Technical Barriers
- Self-developed chip achieves low latency and high stability, Motion-to-Photon latency about 3ms, industry-leading.
- Own optical factory ensures quality and mass production capability of display modules.
- Deep cooperation with BOSE to optimize sound quality experience.
- Software algorithm chipification, solidifying core IPs into chips to improve efficiency and response speed.
- Market Positioning and Future Plans
- Aiming to create an “all-day carrying” device, suitable for fixed scenarios (office, travel, movie watching, etc.) for long-term wearing.
- Launching the Aura series in 2025, running the Android XR system, with a 70-degree field of view, supporting spatial tracking and gesture recognition.
- Cooperating with Google to define glasses-form hardware standards, becoming a core partner in the Android XR ecosystem.
- Expected to continue annual iterations in the future, gradually improving performance and user experience.
- Will leverage AI and large model capabilities in the future to enhance product intelligence and personalized service capabilities.
- Industry Outlook
- The XR market has not yet reached the unity and maturity of the iPhone era of mobile phones; it is still in a highly fragmented stage.
- A technological breakthrough and commercial explosion point are expected in 2027-2028.
- Hardware maturity, ecosystem perfection, and AI capability enhancement will be key drivers.
- Chinese enterprises possess advantages in hardware innovation and global layout, with the potential to become future industry leaders.
Main Viewpoints and Key Conclusions
- The XR industry is still in its early stages; technology and commercialization difficulties are immense, requiring long-term patience and investment.
- The Google Android XR ecosystem brings new momentum to the industry; Xreal, as a core hardware partner, bears the responsibility of defining glasses-form standards.
- AI glasses are not truly mature yet; a real explosion is expected in 2027-2028.
- Xreal focuses on “iPod-style” segmented scenarios, pragmatically advancing product iteration, with technical accumulation and user experience as the core.
- Excessive marketing and false propaganda damage industry credibility; media and enterprises must jointly maintain ecological health.
- China has the potential to achieve breakthroughs in hardware innovation, combining overseas advantages to potentially lead the XR industry in the future.
- Product experience and user education are equally important; the combination of AI and XR will be key in the future.
- Xreal’s self-developed chips and optical manufacturing capabilities are important competitive barriers, ensuring product differentiation and user experience.
- Industry ecological cooperation and platform strategies (such as Google’s lead partner model) will promote XR hardware standardization and scaling.
Conclusion
The above is the editor’s summary of this interview where Dianwan Tech AK invited Xu Chi. Regarding the technical status, market challenges, and future trends of the XR industry, there indeed needs to be relatively sober voices from industry insiders. Everyone blindly blowing bubbles is detrimental to the healthy development of the industry. Regarding industry ecology, user cognition, AI development pace, and differences between domestic and foreign manufacturers, they have shown us a rational, pragmatic, and technology-driven XR development path. In the coming years, with the maturity of key technologies and deep integration of AI, XR is expected to usher in an explosive period. As an industry leader, Xreal stands at the forefront of international innovation, and we look forward to it bringing breakthroughs and demonstrations to the industry.
About the Author
