Hidden code points to Google reviving its AR glasses project
Google Glass was one of the first devices to incorporate augmented reality technology into glasses, but that device came and went without making much real impact. Now it seems that Google is once again interested in this particular product category.
Based on hidden code discovered by 9to5Google in the Google app for Android, there’s a new reference to ‘iris’, and to launching Google Assistant with a tap on the right temple – which sounds to us like some AI specs.
Now Project Iris was the codename of the specs that Google briefly showed off at Google I/O in 2022: their main job was to translate dialogue spoken in a foreign language into text that would appear before your eyes.
It was just a short demo, and we haven’t heard much about the glasses since – except for June this year, when a report emerged suggesting the project was shelved. Four months later it could be on the table again.
AR and MR
Given the brevity of the first demo and the lack of official information on these AR specs, we don’t have much to say about what they can do – or even why they may have fallen off Google’s priority list.
We were certainly impressed with what Google showed off last year, but it seems likely that these specs will go beyond direct translation and include a variety of other features as well. We might be talking about everything Google Assistant can do, and more.
While Google has been relatively quiet on this topic – at least since Google Glass Enterprise was discontinued – the market category continues to progress, as our Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses review shows.
We also know that Samsung and Google are currently working on a mixed reality headset for the likes of the Meta Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro. Based on this report, something lighter could also be in the pipeline.