Google will launch its first AI glasses in 2026, in keeping with an organization weblog submit.
At Googleβs I/O occasion in Might, the corporate introduced partnerships with Light Monster and Warby Parker to create shopper wearables based mostly on Android XR, the working system that powers Samsungβs Galaxy XR headset.
However you possibly canβt put on a cumbersome headset whereas out in the actual world, which makes sensible glasses interesting as a much less obtrusive sensible wearable.
βFor AI and XR to be actually useful, the {hardware} wants to suit seamlessly into your life and match your private type,β Google writes. βWe need to provide the freedom to decide on the correct steadiness of weight, type and immersion in your wants.β
Google is engaged on varied kinds of AI-powered glasses β one mannequin is designed for screen-free help, utilizing built-in audio system, microphones, and cameras to permit the person to speak with Gemini and take images. The opposite mannequin has an in-lens show β which is just seen to the individual carrying the glasses β that may present turn-by-turn instructions or closed captioning.
Google additionally shared a preview of the wired XR glasses from Xreal referred to as Undertaking Aura. This mannequin situates itself between a cumbersome headset and an unobtrusive pair of glasses. Past simply an in-lens show, the Undertaking Aura glasses can operate as an prolonged office or leisure machine, permitting the person to make use of Googleβs suite of merchandise or stream video as they’d in a extra superior headset.
Whereas Meta has gotten out to an early lead in sensible glasses improvement, Google now joins Apple and Snap among the many firms anticipated to problem Meta with their very own {hardware} subsequent 12 months.
Metaβs sensible glasses have caught on partly due to its partnership with Ray-Ban, and it sells these merchandise in retail shops. Googleβs partnership with Warby Parker looks like it’s going to comply with the same technique, committing $75 million to this point to help the eyewear firmβs product improvement and commercialization prices. If Warby Parker meets sure milestones, Google will commit a further $75 million and take an fairness stake within the model.
