AWE 2025: Android XR, Snap, and AI
Source: forbes.com
Augmented World Expo 2025, the XR industry’s largest and longest-running event, concluded in Long Beach, California, drawing over 5,000 attendees and 250 exhibitors. The conference and expo included hackathons, keynotes, investor meetups, and breakout areas.
Keynote Highlights
Ori Inbar, AWE’s co-founder, opened the event, declaring that “XR is going mainstream,” stating that hardware and tools are ready, and AI is lowering barriers. Google and Snap presented main stage keynotes. Snap showcased Specs and mirror technology. Niantic Spatial also participated, focusing on WebXR and a digital twin of the physical world.
Android XR
Google's Justin Payne introduced Android XR, Google’s spatial computing operating system, designed to unify headset and glasses development across Qualcomm and Samsung hardware and integrate with Gemini. Payne called Android XR the evolution of Google's investment in vision-based computing, converging with real-time AI. He also noted the intention that Gemini would be able to follow a user between multiple XR devices throughout the day.
Snap Spectacles
Snap’s Evan Spiegel announced consumer-ready Spectacles coming in 2026. The new Spectacles will support spatial AI interactions, WebXR, and shared gaming overlays. Hundreds of developers are already demoing applications for Specs. This marked Speigel’s first AWE keynote.
XREAL Project Aura
XREAL’s Chi Xu previewed Project Aura, eyewear built for Android XR, featuring a Qualcomm X1S spatial chip, a 70-degree field of view and Gemini-powered voice interfaces. Xu said that all the necessary elements are finally ready.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm showcased its AR1+ Gen1 chipset, an on-device AI processor for smartglasses. Qualcomm framed it as a turning point for wearable computing and the ability to build AI glasses that can stand alone.
Additional Highlights
Nolan Bushnell and his family discussed lessons XR can learn from arcade design, advocating for intuitive mechanics and social play. Brent Bushnell’s Dream Park demo allowed players to interact with digital characters. Palmer Luckey discussed his reunion with Meta to take over the IVAS project from Microsoft, stating that the best AR hardware is now coming from the consumer sector. His Eagle Eye platform is a sensor suite that fuses data in real time. Tom Emrich announced a new spatial/XR news site, Remix Reality. Vicki Dobbs Beck and Helen Papagiannis discussed XR’s potential for identity, expression, and immersive storytelling. Papagiannis unveiled her new book Reality Modding.
The show's tone was celebratory. The combination of stable platforms, hardware, and AI-native developer tools made XR feel more grounded. Enterprise now represents 71% of the XR market. Brent Bushnell’s Dream Park, is expanding. Auki Labs demonstrated indoor navigation using QR codes. Auki won an Auggie award for its Posemesh technology. Virture's smartglasses are popular for gaming and content consumption. Flow Immersive demonstrated interactive data visualizations on headsets, phones, and smartglasses. Enklu won an Auggie for mixed-reality outdoor multiplayer experiences. Ten new XR Hall of Fame inductees were honored.