At Google I/O today, the company announced its new XR glasses, running on Android XR. This is their new platform for Extended Reality, which Samsung already announced a device for this platform that is set to launch later this year – Project Moohan. Now, Google has their own pair of glasses, which we were able to demo at Google I/O today.
Of course, this was the one demo in the AI Sandbox that everyone, and we do mean everyone, wanted to try out. So the line was quite long. However, while waiting in line, I did get a glimpse of Google co-founder, Sergey Brin wearing the new glasses. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai was also in the AI Sandbox at the time, but it was very hard to get a photo of him.
After a long wait, the demo itself lasted about 90 seconds
Google was primarily showcasing Gemini on these Glasses; in fact, that was the name of the demo. So the actual demo did not take that long. In fact, Google was pretty quick to get everyone out of there.
As someone who wears glasses, I was prepared to have to wait for Google to figure out what lenses I needed to use. But they were able to scan my glasses and find the right lenses in a matter of minutes. Quite a bit quicker than other XR glasses I’ve done hands-on with.
To get started, you long-press on the right side of the glasses to bring up Gemini. Then you can tap on the right to pause Gemini, and tap again to unpause. The demo had me looking at a painting and asking Gemini about it, and looking at photos in a book to ask Gemini about it.
You’re able to keep talking to Gemini and learn much more about what you see. And even if you’re in a loud environment you’re still able to see what Gemini says, as it appears in the screen in front of you.
It worked really well, and makes me want to ditch my Meta Ray-Bans, which I absolutely love. That’s high praise for a pair of glasses that are unlikely to even launch this year.
Google’s glasses are lightweight, and look great
Google said during the keynote that they are working with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster for designing these glasses. So they don’t look as ugly as Google Glass did. Unfortunately, they can’t strike up a partnership with Ray-Ban, as Meta has an exclusivity with Ray-Ban “into the 2030s”, so Google had to find another company to work with.
The glasses looked a lot like my Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, but they actually felt lighter. One reason why I don’t wear my Meta Ray-Bans all the time, is because of the weight – the other is the battery life. I was shocked by how light Google’s glasses felt actually. However, Google is not talking about battery life here just yet. Or really any other details about these glasses. They are only talking about Gemini on these.
I can’t wait to buy these
As someone who was never a big VR person, why am I so excited to buy these glasses? Honestly, these would be amazing to travel with. I travel internationally quite a bit – in fact I’m going to Paris next week for a realme event. And having the Gemini Glasses to translate what I’m saying into French, and what people in France are saying to me in English, would be incredible. Not to mention being able to ask Gemini for directions about different things I see in Paris, among other things.
Google has not said anything about price, or really much of anything else about these glasses. So there’s actually more questions than answers with these – like what are they going to be called?
However, considering Google said that Project Moohan would be the first to launch on Android XR, and confirmed that it is launching later this year, I’m not expecting these glasses to launch this year.
XREAL is also working on a pair of glasses with Android XR, which is also very light on details, though XREAL will share more next month at Augmented World Expo.
