Subtitles in front of your eyes

How to See Subtitles in AR Glasses at the Cinema

You have AR glasses, or you are thinking of getting a pair, and you want your own subtitles in them while the film plays on the big screen. Whether CinemaCC can reach them depends on how the glasses get their picture. This page lays out the routes, what each one needs and what to check before the lights go down.

By · Published · Sources checked 27 August 2026 · Updated 6 min read

A warm cinema scene viewed through black display glasses, with two abstract subtitle lines inside the lens.

The short answer

  • Wired display glasses: this is an iPhone feature. Use the native CinemaCC iPhone app with glasses that accept a standard video signal and appear to iOS as an external display. The iPhone stays the controller, and CinemaCC sends only the synchronized subtitle view to the glasses.
  • Even G2: works through the Even Hub app instead of a standard video input. The paired phone controls the synchronized timeline and sends the current cue to the lenses.
  • A wired connection needs video on every link: a USB-C socket alone is not enough. The phone, cable, adapter chain and glasses must all support video output and input.
  • Built-in live captions are a separate thing: glasses that turn nearby speech into text are not displaying CinemaCC’s synchronized subtitle view.

How subtitles get into your glasses

Glasses get their picture in different ways. Find the route yours uses; it decides what CinemaCC can send.

Wired display glasses

These glasses take a video signal from the phone and show it as a private virtual display. This is the route CinemaCC can use when iOS recognizes the glasses as a standard external display. CinemaCC supplies the synchronized subtitle view; the glasses supply the optics. On OLED or Micro-OLED displays, black pixels do not emit light, so the black background stays unlit and only the pixels needed for the subtitles light up.

An app on the glasses platform

Some smart glasses offer an app platform instead of a standard video input. CinemaCC uses this route on Even G2: the paired phone imports a CinemaCC subtitle package or SRT files, controls the synchronized timeline and sends the current cue to the lenses through the Even Hub app. This plays the subtitles you prepared instead of recognizing the film audio again, but the integration is specific to Even G2.

Using Even G2? Follow the Even G2 guide.

What about glasses with their own live captions?

Some glasses turn nearby speech into text with their own microphones, phone app, cloud service or onboard system. Their captions may be useful, but they are not the same as displaying CinemaCC’s synchronized subtitle view. CinemaCC works the other way round: it plays the subtitles you prepared, in time with the film.

How the wired display route works

To iOS, the glasses are a second screen, and CinemaCC draws only the subtitles on it.

On the iPhone: controls and timing In the glasses: only the subtitles On the iPhone: controls and timing In the glasses: only the subtitles
The iPhone keeps the controls and the timing. The glasses receive only the subtitle view.
  1. Connect the glasses to the iPhone and confirm that iOS recognizes a second display.
  2. Open CinemaCC and start the subtitles when the movie begins.
  3. Let CinemaCC build the subtitle window. It creates a separate black-background subtitle window for the connected display while the iPhone remains the controller.
  4. Adjust on the iPhone. Change timing or subtitle size there, without putting the full phone interface in front of your eyes.
  5. If you disconnect, the external subtitle window goes away and the iPhone player keeps working.

Check every link in the video path

Video has to pass through every link between the iPhone and your eyes. If one link cannot carry it, the subtitle view never arrives.

Video passes every link A charge-only cable Glasses with no video input An iPhone without display output Video passes every link A charge-only cable Glasses with no video input An iPhone without display output
Whichever link fails, no subtitles reach the lens. Check them one by one.
  • iPhone: it must support external-display output. Apple currently documents support for iPhone 15 models, iPhone 16 models except iPhone 16e, and iPhone 17 models except iPhone 17e.
  • Glasses: they must accept DisplayPort over USB-C or another documented video input. USB-C used only for charging, data or a proprietary accessory does not prove display compatibility.
  • Cable: use one that carries video, not a charge-only cable. Apple recommends a USB-C cable that supports USB 3.1 or later for high-resolution USB-C displays.
  • Older Lightning iPhones: they are outside the USB-C display path documented on the Apple page cited here. Consider one only when the glasses manufacturer documents the exact powered adapter chain; do not assume a generic USB-C adapter will work.
  • Android and the Web player: CinemaCC’s connected-display feature is an iPhone feature. Android and the Web player do not currently send the dedicated external subtitle window.

What the five brands officially document

Each maker’s own pages say what its glasses accept and how they connect. The links below go there.

Even Realities

  • Even G2 pairs with a phone over Bluetooth, while Even Hub supports third-party apps. This is a vendor-platform route, not USB-C DisplayPort.
  • CinemaCC for Even G2 imports a CinemaCC subtitle package or SRT files on the phone, keeps the synchronized timeline there and displays the current cue on the lenses.
  • Even’s built-in Conversate and Translate remain separate live-caption and cloud-translation features.

Rokid

  • Rokid Max accepts a direct connection from sources that support DisplayPort over USB-C 3.1.
  • Rokid Max screen casting does not require the Rokid AR app.
  • Rokid Glasses use their own live subtitles, translation and intelligent captioning. Those features do not prove that every Rokid model accepts an iPhone video signal. CinemaCC’s Rokid Glasses integration is experimental.

VITURE

  • VITURE Pro 2 lists USB-C as its connection and includes a USB-C-to-USB-C cable.
  • VITURE’s iPhone guide describes compatibility with USB-C iPhones from iPhone 15 onward, so this model follows the standard external-display route.

XREAL

  • XREAL One Pro requires a device with a USB-C DisplayPort port and DP output, and lists iPhone among its source devices. This matches the standard external-display route CinemaCC needs.

RayNeo

  • RayNeo Air 4 Pro is a wired display for a DisplayPort-supported Type-C port; RayNeo also publishes a USB-C iPhone compatibility guide.
  • RayNeo X3 Pro instead uses its own on-lens live speech translation, captions and transcription.
  • RayNeo iO, announced on 21 August, is closer to Even G2: the 33 g glasses pair with the RayNeo phone app over Bluetooth and show captions and translations on a transparent monochrome waveguide display. Its Live Captions require a phone network connection.
  • The public RayNeo developer platform currently lists X and Air series rather than iO, and the iO documentation does not describe DisplayPort input. CinemaCC therefore needs an iO app or SDK integration before it can send prepared subtitle cues; iO’s built-in Live Captions are a separate route.

Set it up before the lights go down

  1. Connect the glasses at home and confirm that the dedicated subtitle view appears, rather than assuming any USB-C connection carries video.
  2. Fit the view to your eyes. Check focus, prescription inserts, subtitle size and where the text sits in your field of view.
  3. Check the first lines. Test the opening dialogue and timing before the screening when possible.
  4. Keep it dim and discreet. Use the lowest readable brightness, keep the iPhone screen dark and follow the venue’s device policy. Do not photograph, record or film the movie; CinemaCC does not need to control or capture the cinema screen.

Rehearse with a film you can pause

Start with a film you can pause at home. Load one or two subtitle languages, compare the opening dialogue and practise a timing correction. A product demonstration shows the workflow, not a guarantee that your subtitle file or glasses will work in a particular cinema.

Related guides

How to Watch Movies with Subtitles on Even G2 Prepare subtitles on your phone, export one file, load it in the Even app and adjust the timing by hand. Read the guide How to Watch a Movie at the Cinema in a Language You Don’t Speak Choose the right screening and compare official captions, synchronized apps and personal subtitles when a film is not in a language you understand. Read the guide I Couldn’t Follow Movies Abroad—So I Brought My Own Subtitles One developer’s story of taking personal subtitles into real cinemas: what went wrong, what worked and the routine that came out of it. Read the guide

Sources and further reading

Provider features, device interfaces and phone support can change. Sources were checked on 22 August 2026.