XR Weekly: Google I/O Unleashes Android XR Glasses as Meta Sets Connect Date - Week of May 25, 2026

This week in XR was defined by Google I/O 2026, where Android XR glasses finally moved from concept videos to live, on-stage demos with consumer launch partners attached. Beyond Mountain View, Apple quietly snapped up an AI avatar startup with implications for Vision Pro, Meta locked in a September date for its biggest event of the year, and VRChat made a bullish statement as two major social VR competitors wound down. Here is everything that mattered between May 18 and May 25, 2026.

Hardware

Google previews Android XR audio glasses with fall launch window. At its I/O keynote on May 19, Google confirmed that the first Android XR audio glasses are coming this fall, providing all-day access to Gemini with responses privately spoken into the wearer's ear, and can be used for taking photos, listening to music, making calls, and tapping into apps. Google worked with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker on the design of the glasses, and Samsung on hardware, and the glasses will pair with Android and iOS devices. See the full roundup at MacRumors.

Live demos prove the platform is more than slideware. During the keynote, Google ran a live demo showing Nishtha in Gentle Monster sunglasses tapping to ask her glasses where to meet her friend, then took a photo of the crowd with the glasses and asked Gemini to add generated content via Nano Banana, serving a preview on a connected Google watch. Yahoo Tech's live blog has the play-by-play.

Samsung Galaxy Glasses expected at July Unpacked. Per reporting picked up by The Ghost Howls, a Korean magazine suggests we may have a full reveal of the upcoming Samsung smartglasses at a Galaxy Unpacked event in London on July 22nd, with the glasses made in collaboration with Gentle Monster and expected to launch in Q3 of this year. More analysis at The Ghost Howls.

Vision Pro tightens grip on 3D theatrical releases. Road to VR reported on May 21 that Vision Pro is steadily becoming the premier destination for 3D theatrical releases to reach home audiences, with the latest 3D movies headed to the device including The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). Full details on Road to VR.

Software & Apps

Gemini ships across the Android XR stack. Google's I/O reveal also doubled as the biggest model upgrade of the spring. Gemini 3.5 Flash combines frontier intelligence with the ability to perform agentic tasks, surpasses 3.1 Pro in coding, agentic, and multimodal benchmarks, and is rolling out starting today in the Gemini app, Search, Antigravity 2.0, and Gemini API. Coverage via 9to5Google.

Android Halo brings agent visibility to phones and glasses. Google also detailed how its glasses tie back to handsets: Android XR glasses can be paired with both Android phones and the iPhone, and Android Halo provides at-a-glance visibility into what your agent is working on at any given time with subtle communication at the top of your phone screen.

VRChat hits usage records as rivals retreat. On May 20, UploadVR reported that as Horizon Worlds and Rec Room withdraw from VR, VRChat says it's growing, regularly setting new usage records, and "not going anywhere." Back in March, Meta announced that Horizon Worlds is fully pivoting to flatscreen, while existing worlds will still be playable in VR but creators can no longer include VR support in new worlds. Just days later, Rec Room announced it will entirely shut down in June. Read the full UploadVR analysis.

Funding & Deals

Apple acqui-hires AI avatar startup Animato. In an EU filing surfaced on May 19, Apple has recently acquired key talent and IP behind Animato, a Bay Area startup creating AI avatars, known for the now-defunct AI video calling app Call Annie, which paired 3D avatars with AI for face-to-face tutoring and language learning. Apple isn't outright acquiring Animato, but rather reserving the right to hire certain employees, get non-exclusive licenses to Animato's intellectual property rights, and acquire Animato's patent applications. Industry watchers expect the deal to feed directly into Vision Pro Personas. Road to VR has the full breakdown.

Apple's pattern of avatar buys continues. As MacRumors noted, this is Apple's second acquisition of a digital avatar company in just over a year. In January 2025, Apple acquired technology, IP, and physical assets from TrueMeeting, a company specializing in the development of digital avatar technology for meetings. Details at MacRumors.

Quiet week elsewhere on the funding front. Outside of Apple's acqui-hire, dedicated XR financings stayed light this week as most of the industry oxygen was consumed by I/O.

Enterprise & Industry

Meta Connect 2026 locks in September 23-24 with smart glasses tease. Road to VR confirmed that Meta's annual Connect event is set to return on September 23-24, and the company teased what appears to be a new pair of smart glasses, saying its event will focus on "the latest in VR, wearables, metaverse, and AI." The stakes are high: Meta has announced several new pairs of smart glasses but has not been clear about plans for upcoming Quest devices, with rumors swirling about a high-end puck-focused Vision Pro competitor or a more affordable next-gen Quest. Announcing a new headset at Connect is probably the strongest signal the company could send to show both confidence and direction in its ecosystem. Full coverage on Road to VR.

Gucci becomes first luxury house in Android XR. Earlier reporting reaffirmed this week noted that Kering CEO Luca de Meo confirmed the luxury house is building Android XR glasses with Google for a 2027 launch, making Gucci potentially the first major luxury fashion brand to enter the AI eyewear market, placing it in direct competition with EssilorLuxottica's Ray-Ban Meta partnership. More via VR.org.

Quick Hits

• Into Black studio The Binary Mill teased a new VR project ahead of a Friday reveal at the Ruff Talk VR Gaming Showcase (Road to VR).
• Google's Ultra plan dropped from $250 to $200, with a new $100 Ultra tier added (MacRumors).
• Apple's Apple's AI smart glasses strategy was further detailed this week as the company plans to outshine Meta's Ray-Bans (Tom's Guide).
• Meta's Wearables Device Access Toolkit was updated to add support for the display of the Meta Ray-Ban Display and its neural wearable band, so developers can finally build applications that leverage the display and the EMG band, with web apps now also possible (The Ghost Howls).
• Tom's Guide argued that at Google I/O 2026, Google finally revealed its Intelligent Eyewear, due out this fall, and Meta has a few months to improve its own products which will likely arrive at Meta Connect 26 in September (Tom's Guide).
• Compass, the open-world VR flight adventure, holds its May 28 release date on Quest 3 and SteamVR (UploadVR).

Next week brings Computex previews from Taipei and Apple's countdown to WWDC 2026 on June 8, where the company is widely expected to respond to Google's Android XR push with its own visionOS, Persona, and smart glasses roadmap.