World's first AR glasses with spatial display chip debuts in Shanghai

Chinese brands are driving trends in the global augmented reality glasses market with the integration of artificial intelligence, consumer-friendly designs and more affordable prices, Alibaba-backed XREAL said in Shanghai.

XREAL, which held a 47 percent market share in the global consumer AR device market in the first nine months, released its new glasses XREAL One, which have a special spatial computing chip.

"It's the world's first chip (on glasses) customized for spatial display, making XREAL One the most advanced consumer-grade AR glasses today," said XREAL founder and Chief Executive Officer Xu Chi.

Powered by the on-device chip, the glasses feature a lightweight design, built-in 3DoF (Three Degrees of Freedom) tracking and a low latency of 3 milliseconds, compared with Apple Vision Pro's 12ms. The glasses can be connected to iPhones, Android devices and personal computers via a USB-C cable to serve as an external virtual screen.

The new models hit stores on Tuesday with a price of 3,299 yuan (US$458), much lower than Apple Vision Pro glasses that cost over 20,000 yuan.

Global augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) device sales are expected to soar 41 percent in 2025 due to new tech and more affordable devices. The market leaders are Meta, Sony, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok's parent) and XREAL, according to International Data Corp or IDC.

"We're seeing a slew of new startups and next generation products from established brands targeting the 'smart glasses' space, with inclusion of AI along with thinner and lighter designs catering to consumers," IDC said in a note.

More AI Glasses are on the way

With new technologies like AI and spiral display, Chinese AR glass brands are at the forefront of innovation and setting industry trends. As AI models become more sophisticated, AR devices will provide the ideal platform for their integration into the physical world, bringing the market explosive growth opportunities in the future, Xu said in Shanghai.

Firms like Apple, Meta and OpenAI are also planning to develop more advanced and smart wearable devices for consumers.

Apple plans to add a communication chip in its next-generation Vision Pro, which would connect it better to online and AI services, according to media reports.

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is expected to enter the smart eye wear sector as former head of Meta's AR glasses team joined OpenAI to lead its robotics and consumer hardware division recently. It fueled speculation that OpenAI could be seeking to make its own pair of AR glasses.