I received a message from bright cups powered by Google’s Gemini AI, who explained what I was seeing. The AI was able to describe the website of a text I was reading and identify the location in a YouTube film I was watching. The practice sounded like there was a time when information was on the rise. AI may be present on our phones and computers, but Google wants it to appear on our eyes as well.

I first tried out Google’s fresh Android XR program next December, and now the company is ready to flow more information. Glass are a significant component of Google’s future solution plans, according to a statement made by Google next year. I had an exclusive dialogue with Shahram Izadi, Google’s VP and GM for Android XR, before the Google I/O designer event, about what to expect future. It starts with a Samsung mixed-reality helmet after this time, and continues with lots of spectacles after that– including from Warby Parker.

Although sales of these products are also significantly lower than those of phones, smart glasses are being increasingly discussed by several major technology companies, including Apple, Meta, and Google, as the next border for AI and technology. The second big tech gadget could be a glass that can see everything you see, analyze the sensory data, and communicate with you using AI. But we’re not that already. &nbsp,

Google’s strategy with Android XR equipment currently is to enhance existing phones rather than replace them. ” I know some individuals think about spectacles one evening replacing phones”, says Izadi. ” I believe it will be this developing habitat method. However, we do believe that XR will be the next border for both Gemini and AI.

Google’s new perspective for spectacles: AI with emotions

Google is regaining its eyeglasses activity with Android XR. After taking a year off from VR and Mr, the search engine huge is currently facing significant contest. Daydream Virtual devices debuted in 2016 and Google Glass returned in 2013.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has a head start in XR ( the industry’s term for AR, VR and AI-connected headsets and glasses ) with its Quest products and AI-infused Meta Ray-Bans. The latter was featured in Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth-starring Super Bowl commercials. Additionally, there are reports of a drive toward glasses in the coming years with Apple’s pricey Vision Pro. &nbsp,

A mixed-reality helmet, Project Moohan, may serve as Google’s first step in its return to the environment. After that, it appears to be all spectacles, with a series of steps on the path to true Mr that floats shows in front of your eyes.

Izadi feels cups are the logical next step for AI because the technology is more sensor-filled, cultural and hands-free, and that AI providers may fit in effortlessly there. ” Those AI helpers receive additional cultural data from these XR products. They have deeper understanding of you and your building.

Connecting to Google programs with Gemini-guided Google cups.

Second, is Google’s making a developer-focused piece of Mr cups manufactured by Xreal, called Project Aura. Finally, there will be glasses with AI components coming from goggles partners. Additionally, Samsung will collaborate with Google on a guide design for the upcoming AR glasses. &nbsp,

Gemini AI is the underlying technology in all of these items. &nbsp,

Android XR may even interact with the Google Play game shop, related to how Apple’s Vision Pro may link to Apple’s iOS App Store. That bridge will take a while to develop, though, for glasses. In addition to Google Play support for glasses in AR, AI-assisted glasses like Meta Ray-Bans may use Gemini to access data on your phone, both in and without shows, according to Izadi.

Project Aura: Xreal-made eyeglasses that will start to observe Mr

A tied pair of glasses that won’t get all-day gadgets but will expand apps and experiences onto features is the first step, via a collaboration with Xreal. They will have a 70-degree field of view, says Izadi. That matches the field of view of Meta’s Project Orion smartglasses I tried out next season, but it doesn’t appear like Project Aura will have the same clear lenses or mobile features. Related to Xreal’s existing Air 2 Ultra spectacles, the eyeglasses may have two devices onboard that will enable movement tracking and perhaps hand monitoring.

Xreal, a manufacturer of tethered ( wired ) display glasses for years, has already made headway toward AR-related projects. Its latest glasses, the Xreal One, can now extend displays a bit with linked laptops, while Xreal’s new partnership with Spacetop on Windows laptops goes more by floating several apps and windows at again. The partnership between Google and Xreal might have a similar effect to the Google Play apps in-glasses.

” Lightweight, carry-on XR devices are a significant change from bulkier headsets. We’ve had devices like this as our north star for years. And as a result, we’ve improved our technology as a result, says founder and CEO Chi Xu. I tried Xreal’s first pair of glasses, the Nreal Light, back in 2004, and they claimed to be Magic Leap-like AR glasses. Aura, in a sense, is coming full circle.

Izadi refers to Xreal’s product as a “plug and play” device that operates in a manner akin to Xreal’s glasses’. Starting with a Qualcomm processor, the developer kit will be used to connect to other upcoming devices like phones. ” We have plans to do a pluggable device in the future. And that’s where there might be interesting collaborations with Samsung, he said.

The device’s design reminds me a lot of what Qualcomm was working on years ago as a plan to connect phones with AR glasses. Hugo Swart, who used to be Qualcomm’s head of XR, is now senior director of XR ecosystems for Google.

Other than the Meta Ray-Bans, AI glasses from Warby Parker are available.

Google has also been developing its own internal AI-enabled glasses, which I tested last year and are also being tested at Google I/O. The company also has plans for the first wave of AI glasses you can actually buy, which will compete with Meta Ray-Bans. Google is beginning with Warby Parker, Korean label Gentle Monster, and upscale eyewear manufacturer Kering Eyewear, which are its main players.

Izadi didn’t say when these glasses will be made or how much they would cost, but the partnership between the two glasses is a way to speed up their arrival. ” We are working as hard as we can to make AI glasses a reality”, says Izadi. That entire pipeline must be constructed. When you purchase eyewear, especially if it includes prescription lenses, you must visit a store, put the glasses on, and have your prescriptions measured. Those partnerships are really critical for that”.

Similar to Meta’s Ray-Bans, Google’s proposed AI for glasses features include music playback, sending messages, describing what the cameras see, and live translation. However, Google is also looking into more intricate features, such as managing appointments and calendars or managing information on your phone. What interests me about Google’s approach here, compared to Meta, is how much more integrated the AI features could be to things on our phones.

Assistance features are a significant component of the equation. While Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 has hearing-aid features, I’m already aware of users who use Ray-Bans to improve their vision. Izadi agrees that a major goal is to have these glasses work to assist for hearing and vision loss, and in other assistive capacities. &nbsp,

Although it doesn’t seem like those glasses are coming this year, they could very well be in 2026.

Samsung and Google are also building AR glasses

The biggest and most enigmatic component of the equation is Samsung. Google’s first Android XR device, Project Moohan, will be released later this year using Samsung. That headset, which I’ve already demoed and which Google is also showing off at I/O, is much like Apple’s Vision Pro in spirit, running 2D Google Play apps, 3D apps and Gemini Live AI that can recognize what’s on screen.

Izadi believes it is crucial for finalizing the vision for Samsung and Google to work together on the core platform, which includes reference hardware, he said.” Samsung and Google will be working together on the core platform, which includes reference hardware,” he said. However, those steps appear even more illogical. In the meantime, the larger Project Moohan looks to be the way to explore AR-like experiences, while first steps for glasses are worked on with Project Aura and AI glasses start arriving in stores even sooner.

AI, AI, and more AI

There is a clear throughline: Gemini, even though all these glasses and headsets may sound like a lot of moving pieces. Google is focused on making its AI work with cameras on wearable devices. The rest of the AR glasses picture may evolve along with those AI tools as they do. &nbsp,

Right now, Google has to play catch-up. Although Moohan appears promising in terms of demonstrating how AI and VR can be combined, the price of that headset may end up being prohibitively expensive for most interested buyers as the$ 3,500 Vision Pro. Regarding Project Aura, Xreal claims that it will provide more information at an AWE conference in June that is AR-focused.

Izadi acknowledges that some of these early glasses will have tradeoffs compared to the company’s end goals for full AR glasses, but he sees a full product lineup– ranging in price, features, size and processing power– as the right path.

We have a spectrum that includes everything from video see-through headsets to wide field of view optical see-through headsets to Xreal-like glasses to truly AR-like glasses to AI glasses that are more head-up or even display-less, says Izadi. Google appears to be outshining its bets despite the limitations of AR glasses being developed.

Of all of these upcoming products, the AI-enabled glasses look like the winning bet to me. Google is currently focusing on AI’s capabilities and developing the rest of its augmented reality concepts for the foreseeable future.