Google AR Glasses: Is this the return of Google Glass?

If you thought Google AR glasses were just a distant dream, you might want to think again. Sure, Google Glass was a flop, and Google's Iris project was ultimately canceled, but it looks like the tech giant isn't giving up on the smart glasses market just yet.

Demand for smart glasses will grow at a tremendous pace in 2024, with innovators like Vuzix, Viture, Rokid, and XReal announcing new AR-enabled specs, plus other major tech leaders getting in on the action.

Meta has their Ray-Ban Smart Glasses (but they're not as focused on AR), Amazon has their Echo Frames – is Google next?

Based on what we've seen over the past few months, from new partnerships to potential leaks at Google I/O, the possibility is definitely there. Here's what we know so far:

Google AR Glasses: A rocky road so far

Google has always strived to establish itself as a leader in innovative technologies, from XR to artificial intelligence. The Google ARCore platform is one of the most popular augmented reality development kits. What's more, Google seems to be constantly adding new immersive features to its apps and tools.

At Google I/O 2024, the company introduced new geospatial AR features for Google Maps, announced updates to various AR developer tools, and also announced a partnership with HP to help revive the Google Starline project (for immersive video conferencing).

Unfortunately, Google AR glasses never seem to live up to expectations. One of the first examples of smart glasses introduced to consumers, Google Glass, was a huge flop. Even the enterprise edition, introduced after the original spec was phased out in 2015, was eventually discontinued.

Hopes were revived in 2022 with Project Iris, a new initiative aimed at helping Google compete with companies like Apple, and the introduction of the Vision Pro headset. However, the project was quickly scrapped following a wave of layoffs in the tech industry.

Every time Google starts experimenting in the smart glasses market, something seems to go wrong: the timing is bad, the feature selection isn't good enough, or the market is too competitive. But now, that may be about to change.

Is Google Developing AR Glasses? Insights from I/O 2024

As of now, there's been no official word that new Google AR glasses will be hitting stores anytime soon, but there's growing evidence that something could be on the way.

One session at this year's Google I/O event caught the attention of XR publications and market analysts, and the AI-focused conference drew a lot of attention to one of the tech giant's most exciting new projects: Project Astra.

Google describes Astra as an AI agent that will revolutionize how we interact with generative AI. Touted primarily as a smartphone tool, the assistant is also able to perceive the world around it and answer questions about the scenery.

What's interesting is that when demoing the Assistant to attendees, the Google team didn't just use Pixel phones to interact with the AI: One user donned a pair of smart glasses and began asking questions and accessing content hands-free using the smart glasses rather than the Pixel phone.

What Project Astra can tell us about Google smart glasses

So what does all this tell us? Well, nothing concrete. In conversations with reporters, Google's team said that the smart glasses are just a prototype built by Google's AR team, and that there are no launch plans to announce.

It also looked a bit like the Iris Glasses, which were discontinued in 2023, so maybe Google was just using existing tech to show off the potential of new AI solutions across its various devices. That makes sense to a certain extent: after all, Google's Astra webpage says that the AI ​​assistant will be available on smartphones and glasses; it doesn't specify whether it will be Google AR Glasses.

But will the tech giant really decide to cede the opportunities that the new AR specs offer to a competitor like Meta?

According to Demis Hassabis, head of AI research at Google, smart glasses seem like the perfect hardware for accessing a hands-free AI assistant, so why doesn't Google leverage its investment in generative AI models like Gemini to enter the AR spec market?

Google AR Glasses: Partnership Opportunities

There's definitely an opportunity here for Google to dive deeper into the XR market. It remains to be seen which path it will take. Clearly, Google isn't opposed to working with smart glasses and other XR technologies, but it may be reluctant to engineer the solution itself.

Once Google has been burned once, it may be hesitant to try again when it comes to developing its own XR hardware, which may explain why the company has been investing in more partnerships. The tech giant has even announced that it is partnering with Samsung to develop an XR headset.

More recently, Google also announced that it is partnering with Magic Leap to develop new solutions. Details of this collaboration have not been released. All we know is that Google and the augmented reality innovator (Magic Leap) are working on a project that aims to combine Magic Leap's AR and optics expertise with Google's technology platform to enable new XR experiences.

Both companies say they look forward to expanding the power of augmented reality and unlocking new market opportunities, but it's unclear whether this means we'll see new Magic Leap devices in the coming months (or years) or new Google AR glasses.

Will Google and Magic Leap create a new set of specifications?

Based on what we know about the collaboration between Google and Magic Leaps, we're likely seeing new XR hardware (inspired by both companies) on the way, though Google may just be helping to augment Magic Leap's new tech with its own innovations.

Google could follow the same path as Samsung and give Magic Leap access to its AI tools and AR development kits, such as Gemini and Project Astra.

But Google said it plans to bring a wider range of immersive experiences to the market through this partnership. This isn't an indication that new Google AR glasses are in the works, but looking broadly at everything Google is doing, from its use of smart glasses at I/O 2024 to Project Starline, the possibility is there.

It's not impossible for Google to create a new set of AR features on its own: the company has the technology, the money, and even the right partnerships. And it's also motivated.

After all, with Meta and various other companies currently working on AR glasses, Google may be hesitant to fall behind its competitors.

What will the new Google AR glasses look like?

Ultimately, as with most major innovations in the world of XR, we can only speculate as to what's next for Google. If new Google AR glasses are on the way, it seems likely that Google will take a similar approach to most AR glasses vendors we've seen so far.

We can probably expect lightweight glasses that look as similar as possible to regular glasses — after all, the very visible camera on Google Glass glasses has previously drawn a lot of ridicule — and I think Google's AR glasses will be similar in some ways to Meta's Ray-Bans.

It will probably be as stylish as possible and will also include access to an integrated AI assistant (Google Astra), although I imagine Google will leverage its augmented reality credentials to add even more immersive content.

Maybe we'll see AR-enabled navigation from Google Maps on our glasses, or tools that can translate languages ​​with real-time subtitles… But these are just my thoughts, and we'll have to wait and see what Google actually has in store.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.xrtoday.com/augmented-reality/google-ar-glasses-is-this-the-return-of-google-glass/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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