Welcome back to our weekly roundup of happenings from XR and AI realms. Let’s dive in…
The Lede
Google used I/O 2026 to introduce Gemini Spark, a persistent AI agent built into Gmail, Docs, Chrome, and Workspace. Spark runs continuously on Google Cloud infrastructure and can be assigned tasks by email through a dedicated address, allowing users to delegate research, drafting, reporting, and web browsing. Beta access begins next week for Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S. Unlike third-party agents that require APIs and authentication layers to reach workplace software, Spark is integrated directly into Google’s ecosystem of Gmail, Chrome, and Workspace products. Google also previewed Android Halo, a status system that shows agent activity across devices. Spark is powered by Gemini 3.5 and Google’s new Antigravity agent framework.
Feeling Spatial
Also at Google I/O, XReal’s Vaunted Project Aura with Google Android XR is their same birdbath video display glasses with an external puck. Yup. That’s it. That is the superdy duper secret nothingburger that has been under wraps for the better part of a year. Xreal and Google additionally showed off Project Aura working via DisplayPort-in with a laptop, which includes integrated Gemini support and “autospatialization,” Xreal’s onboard process of making flatscreen games, images, and videos 3D on the fly. Cool, but Xreal’s glasses do this already. So does competitor Viture’s. I mean, good golly gosh, that’s it? All that hype and bragging was hype and bragging. Give it to ‘em, they’re good at that. I expected so much more.
Snap plans to launch its sixth generation Specs AR glasses in fall 2026, with reports indicating a target price of about $2,500. The standalone glasses, whose price and release date are expected to be announced by CEO Evan Spiegel at AWE 2026 in Long Beach in two weeks. Spiegel previewed the new see-through Specs, the first since Magic Leap’s Creator One, at AWE 2025. The price places Specs well above Meta’s Ray Ban monocular display glasses, suggesting Snap may be initially targeting developers, early adopters, and professional users rather than the mass market. As it happens, this week’s guest on the AIXR Podcast is Jonathan Rodriguez Cefalu, CEO of Preamble AI. He worked at Snap on Specs for years after they acquired his previous company.
Defense startup Anduril revealed new details about EagleEye, its mixed reality battlefield system developed for the U.S. military. New footage showed EagleEye’s digital night vision operating with an 84-degree field of view, substantially wider than conventional military night vision systems. The helmet-integrated platform combines augmented reality displays, thermal imaging, sensor fusion, AI assistance, and battlefield networking into a single system. Founded by Palmer Luckey, Anduril took over the U.S. Army’s IVAS program from Microsoft in 2025. EagleEye is designed to overlay navigation, targeting, teammate locations, drone feeds, and other battlefield information directly into a soldier’s view while providing day and night vision capabilities.
South Korean optics startup LetinAR raised $18.5 million ahead of a planned 2027 IPO in S. Korea, bringing total funding to roughly $42 million. Backed by LG Electronics, the company develops optical modules for AR and AI glasses rather than complete devices. Its PinTILT lens technology is designed to deliver brighter images in thinner, lighter, and more power efficient form factors than conventional waveguide or birdbath optics. LetinAR says it is already working with companies including NTT QONOQ Devices, Dynabook, and Aegis Rider. The funding puts renewed attention on the optics suppliers behind the category.
Microsoft appointed industry analyst and author Matthew Ball as Chief Strategy Officer for Xbox, placing one of gaming’s most influential commentators inside the business he has spent years analyzing. Ball is widely known for his annual gaming and metaverse reports, long form essays, and his book The Metaverse. The hire follows a series of leadership changes under Xbox president Asha Sharma, who arrived from Microsoft’s CoreAI group earlier this year. Ball, who is something of an acolyte of Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney, has frequently written about user generated content, creator economies, Roblox, and platform ecosystems.
The AI Desk
Amazon used this week’s AI on the Lot event at the MGM lot to showcase three AI assisted animated children’s series produced with its internal Project Nara pipeline. It’s a platform that marries AI production with other tools like Maya, Blender, Nuke, Unreal Engine, and Adobe Suite, and then is a model trained on Amazon MGM Studios IP. The shows include “Love, Diana: Music Hunters” from former Nickelodeon executive Albie Hecht and pocket.watch, “Cupcake & Friends” from BuzzFeed Studios, and “Punky Duck” from Jorge Gutierrez, creator of “El Tigre,” “The Book of Life,” and “Maya and the Three.” Amazon says Project Nara combines generative AI with production tools including Maya, Blender, Nuke, Unreal Engine, and Adobe software. During the keynote, Amazon MGM COO Albert Cheng said AI could reduce production time, increase throughput, and allow more projects to be produced with smaller crews.
Paul Shrader, who famously said a year ago that AI could write a script like he does, gave a talk at AI on the Lot to elaborate. The Oscar nominated writer of Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull revisited his widely circulated experiments asking ChatGPT for film ideas in the style of major directors, saying the results were surprisingly detailed and usable. Schrader also said he has used AI for script feedback and development, arguing that writers should learn to work with the technology rather than ignore it.
Cinematic Corner
AI video company Higgsfield premiered Hell Grind at Cannes, describing it as the first feature film produced entirely with its platform. Directed by Aitore Zholdaskali and co-written with Cannes veteran Adilkhan Yerzhanov, the 90 minute action fantasy follows four thieves whose botched heist opens a portal to the underworld. Higgsfield said a team of 15 filmmakers created the feature using over 16,000 video generations to produce 253 final shots for the first 25 minute episode. The company reported a total production cost under $500,000, including roughly $400,000 in compute expenses. The festival liked it so much they were compelled to put out their own press release, clarifying that while the show was shown inCannes, it was not part of Cannes. Okaaaay.
Higgsfield also announced two new AI features with director Chuck Russel, who used the Cannes Film Market to unveil two science fiction features from his company Neumorphic AI. Russell, whose credits include The Mask, The Scorpion King, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, described AI as an expansion of the filmmaker’s toolkit rather than a replacement for traditional production. The projects were presented during a Higgsfield event at Cannes, where AI filmmaking was a recurring topic across panels, screenings, and industry gatherings. Russell said the technology allows filmmakers to work at a scale previously unavailable to independent creators while retaining creative control over the final result.
Artlist is launching Artlist TV on June 1, a streaming service populated largely with AI generated series and films created using the company’s production tools and creator ecosystem. Early titles include Terrible People, a comedy about a chaotic PR firm, alongside other original AI produced shows designed to showcase the platform’s filmmaking capabilities. Unlike experimental shorts on social media, Artlist TV is structured as a dedicated streaming destination for AI native programming, with the company positioning it as both a showcase for creators and a proving ground for AI generated entertainment. A few months ago, John Gaeta’s cinematic AI platform, Escape.ai, also announced a streaming deal for its vast library of gen AI entertainment content as well.
Artlist is also financing and executive producing Terrarium, a hybrid live action and AI horror feature from Secret Level and producer Steven Schneider, whose credits include Paranormal Activity and Insidious. The film will be written and directed by Secret Level co-founder Jason Zada and produced using a workflow that integrates Artlist Studio AI with Secret Level’s proprietary production pipeline. Live action photography will take place in Los Angeles, with the filmmakers stating the production will operate under DGA and SAG-AFTRA compliant agreements. The project is currently in preproduction, with casting underway and no budget disclosed.
Dreams of Violets, a 75 minute AI generated feature about Iranian resistance and government violence, will premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 10. It’s one of the first fully AI generated live action features accepted into a major film festival lineup. Created by brothers Ash and Pooya Koosha through their studio Fountain 0, the film reportedly cost about $2,000 and was produced in roughly two months using tools including Google Nano Banana, Kling AI, and Anthropic’s Claude. The project dramatizes recent events in Iran using entirely synthetic imagery and characters. Its acceptance at Tribeca follows a year of growing AI activity at major festivals, including Cannes and Tribeca’s earlier AI shorts programs.
Spatial Audio
This column has a companion, the AI/XR Podcast, hosted by its author, Charlie Fink; Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive and futurist for Paramount and Fox; and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap and Synthbee AI.
Our latest episode featured a roundtable discussion with the show’s co-hosts (embedded below). Our next guest is Jonathan Rodriguez Cefalu, CEO of Preamble AI. He worked at Snap on Specs for years after they acquired his previous company. Episodes drop on Tuesdays, and you can find them on podcasting platforms Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
Charlie Fink is the producer and co-host of the AIXR Podcast and teaches at Chapman University and ASU. Fink is the producer of the vertical gen AI social media series, “Linda’s Last Podcast” (2026) and serves as CEO of Cinemation.AI, an AI animation studio he co-founded with film director Rob Minkoff, whose vertical anime series, Speed Queen, is in pre-production. He is the author of the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017), Convergence, Or How the World Will Be Painted With Data (2019), and the upcoming AI, The End of Hollywood, and What Comes Next.