A Chinese startup is pushing the boundaries of wearable tech by developing a dedicated chip that could make ultralight headsets a reality. GravityXR, whose team includes engineers who previously worked on Apple’s R1 and the coprocessor behind the Vision Pro, along with veterans from Meta, Huawei, and Amazon, has created a purpose-built coprocessor that handles latency-sensitive image processing and computer vision tasks. The result is a reference design that stands as the lightest headset demonstration to date.
GravityXR’s G-X100 chip is designed to be embedded in ultra-light mixed reality headsets, managing camera passthrough, positional tracking, hand tracking, and reprojection with an impressive photon-to-photon latency of about 9 milliseconds. This enables the main chipset, such as a Qualcomm Snapdragon module, to sit in a tethered external puck instead of inside the headset itself.
With a thermal design power of only 3 watts, the G-X100 can be passively cooled, avoiding the bulky heatsinks and fans that add significant weight to current standalone headsets. The concept targets higher-wower chips (10–20 watts) by moving cooling and processing outside the headset.
To illustrate the approach, GravityXR released a reference headset dubbed GravityXR M1. This passthrough device uses pancake lenses, displays, and cameras, yet weighs under 100 grams, making it the lightest headset publicly shown—arguably even lighter than some “compact” models on the market. Its compact form raises the possibility that it could be described more accurately as a set of mixed reality glasses than a traditional headset.
Unlike some lightweight devices from other manufacturers, such as Xreal and Viture, the GravityXR M1 offers a 90-degree field of view comparable to current VR headsets. As a passthrough system, it can render virtual objects with full opacity without dimming the user’s real-world view.
Industry momentum is shifting toward ultra-light headsets paired with external compute puck setups. Meta has signaled a priority on delivering a tethered, ultra-light Horizon OS headset in 2026, with a traditional Quest-style device less likely before 2027. A report from UploadVR notes this strategic tilt toward lighter form factors.
It’s important to note that GravityXR M1 remains a reference design, and no company has publicly committed to integrating the G-X100 yet. However, industry chatter points to both Meta and Pico potentially launching ultralight headsets in the near future, following similar engineering paths to GravityXR’s concept. For example, Pico has indicated internal development of an own R1-style chip, and Meta maintains a multi-year collaboration with Qualcomm while continuing in-house chip development.
Taken together, the broader trend across the AR/VR sector is clear: mixed reality headsets are expected to shrink dramatically—from bulky face-bricks weighing around a half kilogram to sleek, glasses-like visors. A split-chip architecture paired with an open peripheral design—sacrificing some field of view—appears to be a viable route for achieving this remarkable leap forward. Thought-provoking questions remain: will these ultralight designs deliver comparable performance and battery life in real-world use, and how will manufacturers balance openness with proprietary performance gains? Share thoughts in the comments.
