The Key Players: Who's Leading the AR Glasses Revolution

AR Glasses Market Overview

Below is a comprehensive comparison of the major AR glasses products currently available or in development, including their key specifications and capabilities.

Software-Focused Players

Google

Google's AR strategy revolves around the Android XR platform, its operating system specifically designed for extended reality (XR) devices like glasses and headsets. Rather than build the AR hardware on its own, Google partners with companies like Samsung to handle hardware development and Qualcomm for its systems-on-a-chip (SoCs). This collaboration allows Google to focus on its strengths - software, cloud, and AI capabilities - to build and advance the Android XR operating system that powers these devices.

Later this year, Samsung is planning to launch two devices powered by Android XR: smart glasses and the Project Moohan headset.

• Smart Glasses: act as an AI assistant to enhance everyday tasks, ranging from navigation with visual overlays, real-time language translation, and retention/feedback of an individual's surroundings.
• Project Moohan headset: provides a premium mixed reality experience that already exhibits ideal features for genuine productivity (e.g., organizing windows with voice).

These devices lay a promising groundwork for enabling humans to work meaningfully away from their desks, hinting at the possibility of a system of devices that, in tandem, present a viable, more ergonomic mode of productivity.^62-70

Microsoft

Microsoft was one of the earliest pioneers in the AR/VR device space with its HoloLens and HoloLens 2 headsets. But over the last several months, Microsoft has made it clear that it is bowing out of the hardware market entirely, discontinuing HoloLens 2 production with no plans to pursue future versions. Instead, similar to Google, Microsoft is prioritizing its development of the underlying software and cloud platforms that will run on devices built by other companies.

Unlike Google, Microsoft is in the midst of a significant period of transition, making it difficult to gauge its standing and strategy in the space. Microsoft does still offer Mixed Reality Cloud Services through Azure and is actively pursuing AR/VR-related IP, which seems to indicate its resolve to remain a key player, but is winding down and retiring flagship offerings such as Microsoft Mesh Platform and Azure Remote Rendering. The coming months will reveal more, especially as Android XR-powered devices are set to hit the market.^71-75

Hardware-Focused Players

Xreal and Viture

Xreal and Viture are two AR glasses companies that have taken similar approaches to the market. Both have:

• Multiple AR glasses available for purchase today (one of each will be covered in depth in the Appendix)
• Glasses that are primarily designed to display content from an external device (e.g., phone, computer, gaming consoles) that is connected via USB-C
• Comes with an additional external computing device that can be connected for more computationally-heavy activities (e.g., streaming)

The technology developed by Xreal and Viture has undoubtedly facilitated a more ergonomic entertainment experience, removing frustrating restrictions that come with smaller devices (e.g., limited screen size, the need to hold the device, hunching over the device, etc.). But without a sophisticated built-in operating system, they are not well-positioned to facilitate a desk-free way of work, at least in their current form.^22,23,30,31

Samsung, Sony, and Qualcomm

Unlike Xreal and Viture, which are smaller companies completely focused on AR, Samsung and Sony are larger hardware players that are involved in the space, but of course have their hand in multiple markets.

Samsung, as previously mentioned, is working closely with Google to bring smart glasses and an XR headset to the market later this year. Sony and Qualcomm, meanwhile, create critical components of hardware that other companies use to ultimately build glasses and headsets (e.g., Sony's micro-OLED panel, Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors).

"Everything" Players

The five companies covered here are titled "everything" players because they build both their own hardware and accompanying operating systems.

Apple, Snap, Magic Leap, and RayNeo

Apple, with its well-established suite of other devices and software, is among the most intriguing players in the AR space with the potential to enable desk-free work. Its main product, the Vision Pro headset, which runs on its mixed reality operating system, VisionOS, integrates nicely into its existing ecosystem, allowing users to sync content such as photos, notes, texts, and browser history via iCloud. However, its heavy weight and lack of efficient productivity features (e.g., browsing requires users to type into a virtual keyboard) are among its shortcomings.⁷⁶

While AR might not be the first thing that comes to mind for many when they think about Snap, the company behind Snapchat has been firmly dedicated to AR for over a decade. In fact, the Snapchat filters that became widely popular are examples of augmented reality, which laid the foundation for the AR glasses they built - the Spectacles series - that runs on its proprietary Snap OS. Their glasses are primarily designed for enhancing social interactions and creativity for the time being, rather than productivity, but the technology is sophisticated and powerful. Interestingly, at the time of writing this, they are considering raising outside funds to support further AR glasses development.^26,27,28,29

Magic Leap is another player that has been at the forefront of AR technology, with its Magic Leap and Magic Leap 2 headsets that are specifically designed for enterprise usage, facilitating training in critical industries like the medical field. While they also have their own Magic Leap OS, the company has recently shifted its focus toward licensing its technology, particularly on the hardware side, drawing interest from companies like Meta and Google (which is now a strategic partner of Magic Leap) because of its expertise in optics and manufacturing.

RayNeo, a subsidiary of TCL Electronics, has glasses that function as an external display, comparable to those produced by Xreal and Viture, but also has a pair of glasses - X2 - that has its own operating system (albeit less sophisticated than that of Apple, Snap, and Magic Leap).

Up and Coming Players

Some key players on the horizon that do not have AR glasses yet are Amazon, which is actively developing AR glasses, and OpenAI, which has a plan for rolling out unique devices designed to increase the speed and context with which humans can interact with AI. While OpenAI is decidedly not building AR glasses and taking a different approach to the device market, they have the capacity and the funds to impact the space as a whole.

Summary

Each of these players has helped AR technology achieve remarkable advancements, whether through unique display technologies (micro-LED, micro-OLED, SiC, waveguides), novel heat dissipation (magnesium, titanium, passive or externalized cooling), cutting-edge gesture/voice input, or multimodal AI capabilities. However, the pathway to truly desk-free, mainstream productivity still faces some clear barriers, including high production costs, the need to combine the advanced computational power that headsets can hold into lightweight wearables, and the need to ensure that any accompanying wearable technology (e.g., Orion's EMG wristband for gesture tracking) are comfortable enough to wear outside (e.g., how does it respond to heat and sweat?).

This is part 4 of our series on the future of ergonomic work. Read part 3 to understand the technological solutions, or start with part 2 to see the health crisis we're addressing. Read on to explore the next steps in part 5, where we examine the three critical development paths that could transform AR glasses into powerful productivity tools.