Morphotonics raises €40M to scale nanoimprint lithography into data centers

XREAL announced that its XREAL AURA wired XR glasses will be priced starting at $1,279 USD, with pre-orders now open exclusively to customers who placed paid reservations. The glasses, developed with Google and Qualcomm Technologies, pair optical see-through eyewear weighing less than 95 grams with a tethered compute puck running Android XR with Google Play, Google Gemini and Snapdragon Reality Elite. Reservation holders can choose M or L frame sizes and either a 12GB RAM plus 256GB storage configuration for $1,279 or a 16GB RAM plus 512GB storage configuration for $1,499, with regional pricing set at $1,829 and $2,149 in Canada, ¥229,800 and ¥269,800 in Japan, and ₩1,990,000 and ₩2,290,000 in South Korea. The system offers precise hand tracking, Sound by Bose and a 70-degree field of view, and the compute puck doubles as a trackpad. XREAL AURA will begin shipping soon in the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea, with more markets coming in 2027, and general availability orders will open at launch.

Vuzix Corporation announced a partnership with Houston-based software developer Shiny Box Interactive to advance military medical training and remote-mentoring solutions on the Vuzix Ultralite Pro OEM smart glasses platform. Shiny Box has previously supported U.S. military augmented reality training using Vuzix M4000 smart glasses, and its work has included CBRNE, medical, surgical and critical-care training that connects emergency medical personnel with remote subject-matter experts. The company is now extending that experience to the Ultralite Pro, Vuzix' lightweight, see-through waveguide-based OEM platform for defense and tactical applications. The Shiny Box platform is designed to provide hands-free remote mentoring and real-time situational guidance across multiple communications environments, including Starlink satellite and cellular broadband, local-area networks and mobile ad hoc networks, with applications in tactical medical training, casualty-care support, evacuation coordination and access to remote specialists. Todd Daniel, Managing Partner at Shiny Box Interactive, said bringing the platform to Ultralite Pro is an important next step toward a lighter, more wearable see-through smart glasses platform for demanding military and tactical environments, while Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers said military medicine is a compelling example of how the platform can bring mission-relevant information and remote expertise closer to the point of need.

Meta has taken the lead in the race to build AI-enabled smart glasses, with EssilorLuxottica saying it sold 7 million pairs of AI-enabled glasses in 2025 and Meta growing its smart glasses sales threefold last year. The company recently showed Fortune its growing family of smart glasses at a private demo room at its Menlo Park, California headquarters, including the flagship Ray-Ban Wayfarer camera-enabled glasses with an updated nine-hour battery life, Ray-Bans with a lens display and a neural wristband, new audio-only smart glasses without a built-in camera, new styles including Aviator frames, and prototypes like the Orion augmented reality glasses. Meta on Wednesday also announced a new pair of virtual reality glasses that it says weigh only 100 grams and will ship in the spring for $1,299. Meta's Ray-Ban Display glasses start at $799, its third-generation flagship camera-enabled Ray-Bans cost $449, and the new audio-only glasses start at $349 in the Ray-Ban Clubmaster and Burbank styles. Meta is already facing multiple proposed class-action lawsuits related to its smart glasses, including one alleging it sent some footage captured by the glasses, including highly personal material, to third-party human reviewers for annotation and AI development, allegations Meta disputes. Competitors are trying to win by making privacy central to their designs, with AI startup Even Realities focusing on text-only displays and Taiwan-based HTC Corp.'s Vive Eagle glasses turning off recording if anyone says, Stop recording.

Global AI glasses shipments reached a record 4.2 million units in the first half of 2026, up 127% year-on-year, according to new Omdia data. Meta retained its dominant position, shipping 3.4 million AI glasses to capture an 81.3% market share, while Even Realities climbed from fifth place in 2H25 to second in 1H26 with 102,000 units shipped, a 2.4% share, on demand for its G2 series across North America and Western Europe. While the US remains by far the largest AI glasses market, shipments in Mainland China surged 306% year-on-year in 1H26, though that market remains highly fragmented, with top players Alibaba, INMO, and Xiaomi collectively accounting for just 46.1% of shipments. Omdia Senior Analyst Qiran Ju said growth was driven by Meta's continued market momentum and a wave of new market entrants from China, while Research Director Jason Low said the fragmentation seen in China signals there is no single, one-size-fits-all solution in the AI glasses space. Omdia also warned that intensifying scrutiny of camera-equipped AI glasses will require companies to define exactly what always-on cameras capture, show users how that content is used, and guarantee it never reaches third parties.

Lante Optics released its 2026 interim report, showing first-half net profit attributable to the parent rose 163.2% year on year to 272 million yuan. Operating revenue was 1.01 billion yuan, up 75.5% year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent after deducting non-recurring items was 267 million yuan, up 172.0% year on year. Net operating cash flow was 391 million yuan, up 148.5% year on year. Second-quarter operating revenue was 561 million yuan, up 74.7% year on year, and net profit attributable to the parent was 143 million yuan, up 146.5% year on year. The company said its optical prism, optical lens, and optical wafer businesses all improved significantly, benefiting from demand for micro-prisms in consumer electronics, rapid growth in optical communications, and accelerating deployment of augmented reality applications.