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Google wants we all wear glasses. Not to correct a defect of our view, but to turn this accessory into the definitive complement of our smartphone. The advance of Android XR shown during its Google I/O 2025 event, and a future is emerging in which the connected glasses will go far beyond what the headphones or smart watches have gone.
Two better than one. The launch of Vision Pro Apple in February last year caused an inevitable “Wow” effect. Months later we discovered that Google and Samsung had Together forces for launch Project Moohanaugmented reality glasses with an approach similar to Apple’s. Now that bet has been unfoldedbecause we will also have Google connected glasses that follow the line of the Meta Ray-Ban and go even further by integrating a small screen into one of the glasses.
Android XR to power. The new Google operating system for this family of devices is Android XRa Android variant specifically designed to run in augmented reality glasses and connected glasses such as those mentioned. The interface is based on gestures and especially in the voice, and there seems to be any type of viewing system for the moment, as it happens in the pro vision.
Gemini as a differential element. Gemini’s advance, Google’s generative model, is patent. It has been possible for months to talk with Gemini naturally and with each new version those conversations become not only more natural, but more useful. The yesterday demos with Project Astra They demonstrated it, and convert the voice and natural language into a crucial component for the success of the glasses. Here Google seems to go one step ahead of its competitors, both Apple and Meta, at least with the functions of AI included at this time.
Experience is a degree. What we are seeing now is the result of more than a decade of Google work. The firm already tried to convince us to wear glasses years ago with The singular Google Glassbut that did not curdle. The ideas were good, but the implementation not so much. They caused as much fascination as disgustperhaps due to a format and design that failed in the essential: for better and for worse it was noticed that you were a user of such glasses. With Android XR the design wants to be totally traditional, as it is in the Ray-Ban Meta.
Glasses are more versatile. There is another element that favors glasses as a product: they promise more varied use cases. They replace the headphones thanks to the integrated speakers, and provide more things than smart watches, which focus much more on physical activity and health for years. The glasses are in fact a form of get the motive less out of the pocket When you go down the street, and probably the evolution of technology will make us more and more. Going to a site, sending messages, receiving calls, asking questions about something we are seeing: all that we can do in one way or another with the mobile we can do it more directly, naturally and better with the glasses. Or that is the promise, at least.
Goal is in the fight. Google connected glasses will still take time to arrive, but those mentioned Meta Ray-Ban They are currently the great reference in this segment. Mark Zuckerberg firmly believes in this product, and in fact provides that In 2030 we will almost not get the mobile out of the pocket Because we will do everything from the glasses and with the voice. Other great Chinese technology companies as Xiaomi or Baidu They seem to be as clear.
And Apple, what? The technological jump proposed by the Apple Vision Pro is remarkable, but the cases of practical use are limited and the price is an obstacle too important for many users. That has made its success limited, but In Apple they seem to have a plan B. It would be to develop an affordable alternative of the pro vision that perhaps adopts the format of the finish line: more modest in benefits, but also much more suitable for using as the almighty complement iPhone.
More competition. Google and Google have the front here, but it is clear that other manufacturers, such as the aforementioned Xiaomi and Baidu, will join this market to try to take a piece of that cake. Yesterday we learned that one of the first to offer these glasses connected to Android XR It will be Xrealwhich has long been offering remarkable products in this area.
The advantage of the ecosystem. Here the hardware imports, without a doubt, but also the operating system used and of course the functions of AI that allow to interact with this wearable through the voice. Here Google has an advantage again thanks to its ecosystem (Android XR + Gemini), but we will certainly see proposals from other manufacturers. If everything goes as it seems, it is likely that in a few years More people wear glasses down the street. And not because they have vision problems.
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