Google (GOOG, GOOGL) on Thursday debuted an all-new version of its Android operating system designed to power virtual and augmented reality headsets and glasses.
Dubbed Android XR, the software, which Google developed in conjunction with Samsung, will allow users to interact with everything from virtual reality apps to real-world objects via your voice, motion controls, and eye-tracking capabilities.
Shares of Google were largely flat immediately following the news.
This isn’t Google or Samsung’s first foray into AR and VR headsets. Google previously offered its Google Daydream phone-based headset, while Samsung sold its Gear VR and its Odyssey headsets. Neither company, however, could get the technology to stick in the consumer market.
What makes things different this time around, the companies say, is the inclusion of Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence software.
“We are at an inflection point for … XR, where breakthroughs in multimodal AI enable natural and intuitive ways to use technology in your everyday life,” Google president of Android Ecosystem Sameer Samat said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Samsung to build a new ecosystem with Android XR, transforming computing for everyone on next-generation devices like headsets, glasses, and beyond.”
Google and Samsung announced the new Android XR operating system focused on VR/AR headsets and smart glasses. (Image: Samsung) ·Samsung
Samsung is developing the first Android XR-powered device called Project Moohan. A virtual reality header with mixed reality functionality thanks to external cameras, Project Moohan looks like a mix of Apple’s (AAPL) pricey Vision Pro and Meta’s (META) Quest 3 headsets. Google says other device makers will build their own headsets using Android XR as well including XREAL, Sony, and more.
The overall interface looks similar to competing AR/VR operating systems that allow you to place app windows around your virtual space while still being able to view the real world around you via passthrough. Google and Samsung also showed off how you’ll be able to interact with content via your mouse and keyboard, allowing you to work using a massive virtual display.
Google is also incorporating its Circle to Search technology, which allows you to circle an object you see on a website using gesture controls and get additional information about it via Google Search.
In one example, a woman saw an image of a soccer player wearing a pair of cleats that she was interested in buying. The woman then used Circle to Search to find out more about them and interact with a virtual version of the footwear, including by being able to spin a cleat around and place it near her own foot.
Google and Samsung are putting voice controls via Gemini front and center, ensuring users are able to navigate the Android XR and learn more about content using just their voices.
A prototype example of Google’s future smart glasses. (Image: Google) ·Google
While Project Moohan is certainly intriguing, it’s Google’s plans for augmented reality glasses that are truly impressive. Google previously tried to bring augmented reality glasses to the masses with its failed Google Glass product.
But like the Moohan headset, the company believes Gemini AI will make all the difference this time around. In a demo video, Google shows a user wearing a pair of Android XR-powered glasses to get directions, chat with friends, find out information about a local restaurant, see if there’s a card shop nearby, and more using their voice and an in-lens display.
Google debuted similar capabilities as part of its Project Astra demo during its I/O conference in May. At the time, the company showed how the prototype software could see the world around you via a smartphone camera or camera-equipped glasses and recall information about what it saw, such as the location of a red ball sitting on a desk that the user happened to pass by.
But Google isn’t the only tech giant interested in smart glasses. Meta showed off its own prototype augmented reality glasses called Orion during the company’s developer conference in September, and it plans to turn it into a consumer device in the future.
What’s more, it’s still not clear if there’s an appetite for smart glasses for the average consumer. AR/VR headsets are still a relatively niche product category, with IDC estimating that the industry will ship 6.7 million units in 2024. That’s expected to grow to 22.9 million units in 2028, but that’s still a far cry from the 316.1 million smartphones IDC says device makers shipped worldwide in Q3 alone.
Smart glasses, meanwhile, are a still relatively untested technology. Meta currently sells its Ray-Ban Meta glasses with built-in cameras and AI assistant, and while the company says the glasses are selling well, it hasn’t released current sales figures.
The industry will simply have to wait and see how Android XR headsets and glasses sell to see if there’s truly a desire for high-tech headgear.
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