At the TED conference in Vancouver, Canada, Google publicly showcased the prototype of its Android XR smart glasses for the first time. These glasses operate on a new operating system designed for extended reality (XR) devices, a technology that merges the real and virtual worlds, including augmented reality (AR).
The head of AR/VR, Shahram Izadi, took the stage wearing glasses that visually resemble regular ones but boast impressive functionalities. The glasses are equipped with a camera, microphone, speakers, and a miniature display embedded in the lenses. They work in tandem with a smartphone, which handles the bulk of computational tasks, keeping the glasses lightweight. During the demonstration, Izadi showcased real-time translation from Farsi to English, text recognition from a book, and a “memory” function where AI Gemini remembers what the user saw.
The glasses also displayed notes for presentations and supported apps like YouTube Music and Google Maps.
While Google has not clarified whether it will release its own glasses, Samsung is reportedly developing a similar model under the codename Haean. The presentation hints at an imminent announcement, possibly at Google I/O 2025.
