It’s been 13 years since Google announced its Google Glass headset and 10 years since it stopped selling the device to consumers.
Wearing Google Glass(es) Google’s smart glasses are the more interesting of the pair.
Google Glass projected its UI toward the corner of your vision, but the Android XR specs place the UI right in the middle.
The demo area for the Android XR glasses was a maximalist playground with travel books, art, various tchotchkes, and an espresso machine.
Google says it’s working with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to create Android XR glasses you won’t mind having on your face.
Mountain View, California. —Be prepared to see Android in a somewhat different light. Ten years have passed since Google stopped selling the Google Glass headset to consumers, and thirteen years have passed since the company first announced the device. None of the previous attempts to make smart glasses function have been successful. Google is returning to the smart glasses market as more affordable models, such as the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, have gradually gained popularity. During Google I/O last year, the first functional Android XR devices were on display following the announcement. You won’t believe it, but the experience is primarily designed with Geminis in mind.
Android XR is the company’s first new operating system created during the “Gemini era,” as Google likes to emphasize. The platform can be used with a variety of glasses and headsets that heavily utilize Google’s AI bot, but at I/O, only two experiences were showcased: the prototype smart glasses and a Samsung AR headset called Project Moohan.
Although the Moohan is a fully enclosed headset, when you put it on, passthrough video is used by default. If you’ve worn a Meta Quest with more recent software or an Apple Vision Pro, you’ll have some idea of how Moohan operates. In fact, the interactions are logical and consistent. Accurate hand tracking in the headset allows you to pick, move, and grab objects. The apps and services you’ve become accustomed to from Google are also available on Android XR. Other headsets have had issues with content outside of games and video experiences.
using Google Glass.
Of the two pairs, Google’s smart glasses are the more intriguing. Even though Moohan isn’t as heavy as the Vision Pro or Quest 3, you wouldn’t want to wear it all day. On the other hand, the glasses might fit in with your life quite easily. Although the glasses felt and looked good, Google made it clear at every chance that the hardware was only a prototype.
Google’s glasses, in contrast to the Meta Ray-Bans, feature a display built into the right lens (you can just see the size and placement of the display in Sergey’s glasses above). The Android XR specifications position the user interface (UI) squarely in the center, whereas Google Glass projects its UI toward the corner of your vision. Due in part to the fact that the information it displays is far less extensive than that of Moohan, it is semi-transparent and initially difficult to concentrate on.
In addition to open-ear speakers, the glasses have a camera and microphone. It all fits in nicely with a body that hardly differs from a typical pair of eyeglasses. Only the large temples that contain the silicon and battery give the impression that they are “smarts.”. These wirelessly connect to a phone by using the same Gemini Live that is available through the Gemini app. On the other hand, the experience is different when it’s on your face.
Gemini can be activated by long-pressing a touch-sensitive area on the temple of the XR glasses. Because the AI assistant is so talkative, it is crucial that a tap pause and unpause it. An espresso machine, art, travel books, and other trinkets were all part of the maximalist playground that served as the Android XR glasses demo space. You can ask it questions on the spot, such as: Who painted this? Where was this picture taken? Does that bridge have a name? How can I make coffee with this thing? Gemini can see everything you do.
For the most part, Gemini provides accurate answers to those questions, displaying text in the lens display when necessary. Additionally, the glasses enable taking pictures with the camera, which are displayed in preview form on the XR interface. You can’t do that with the Meta Ray-Bans, for sure.
Later this year, AI for your face.
At I/O, Google declared that Gemini live is now available on all phones. Thus, many of the AI interactions that are possible with the prototype specs can be experienced by you. It feels different, though, to be able to share your worldview hands-free with Gemini, which makes it easier to use AI features.
In Android XR, Google demonstrated how Gemini could send messages, manage phone settings, remember trivial details from the previous day, and display a floating Google Maps frame for real-time navigation. Additionally, Google employees briefly participated in a “very risky” demonstration of real-time language translation. Although Google has previously done similar things with phones and earbuds, these small smart glasses made it appear more natural. The presenters’ native Hindi and Farsi were recognized and instantly translated into English. However, after a minute, one of the units froze, indicating that the magic was short-lived.
Later this year, Google said, we will see hardware, though it most likely won’t look exactly like the demo version at I/O. Glass was one of Google’s more ambitious projects that frequently fails due to hardware. Speaking about that at an I/O appearance, Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, said he “made a lot of mistakes with Glass.”. He specifically pointed to his ignorance of consumer electronics supply chains as a factor in Glass’ high $1,500 price tag.
Brin stated that the situation for Android XR glasses should improve. He claims that Google is collaborating closely with partners to make sure that its glasses are superior to Glass right from the start. Regarding Project Moohan, Samsung has the resources and supply chain access necessary to produce a hardware product that can compete. It is depending on Google to handle the software, which was the problem with its previous AR and VR products.
Naturally, no one wants to wear ugly smart glasses—Meta’s glasses have been popular in part because they resemble regular Ray-Bans. Warby Parker and Gentle Monster are collaborating with Google to develop Android XR glasses that you won’t mind wearing on your face. It’s difficult to say if you’ll want Gemini there. Although Google’s live generative AI has advanced significantly, it will be costly and possibly a privacy nightmare to sift through endless video footage of your life.
