Google might’ve just teased its new Smart Glass project but don’t call it Google Glass
Ready to Glass again?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
In a blink-and-you-missed-it moment,Googleteased what appears to be its upcoming Smart Glasses project, one it may be building with the help ofSamsungand, perhaps, even Qualcomm.
You can be forgiven for not hanging on until the very end ofGoogle I/O’sthree-hour keynote to see a Gemini AI promotional video that cruised through many of the major announcements. It was a lot to digest but squeezed inside all the clips was a glimpse at a pair of glasses that were almost unmistakably smart.
There are already rumors thatGoogle and Samsung are working on an XR/VR headset, but smartglasses like these, which would probably rely on Qualcomm’s much smaller and more efficientSnapdragon AR2 chip, seem plausible, as well.
In the video (see the GIF below), someone picked up a beefy-looking pair of black-frame glasses. While we never see them on anyone’s face, it’s followed by what appears to be someone’s point of view through the lenses.
The wearer asks what they’re looking at, which appears to be a drawing on a whiteboard of a pair of cats: one alive and one dead. The AI replies in voice and with text we can see in front of us: “Schrödinger’s cat.”
Obviously, we don’t know if the visual is real and if Google truly intends to deliver smart glasses with built-in AR displays. That’s not something we’re seeing from competitors like Meta (Ray-Bay Meta Wayfarers) andAmazon(Amazon Echo Frames).
Even so, Google has a rich history in AR glasses.Google Glass(RIP) featured a small heads-up display designed to overlay your real world. The display was too small, and everyone who wore them looked ridiculous, but that technology is now a decade old. It’s 2024, and there are new possibilities for chips, AR, microdisplays, and the AI that can help power them.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
Of course, that’s the key to Google Smart Glass' potential success: integratedGemini AI(like Gemini Nano) that can make them far more useful than Google Glass ever was.
We don’t know anything more than what those few seconds of video tell us. Perhaps we’ll have the full story tomorrow when Google launches Google I/O Keynote: The Return.
You might also like
A 38-year industry veteran andaward-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.
Lance Ulanoffmakes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, theToday Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.
Fitbit Charge 6 is back down to under $100 in Amazon’s pre-Black Friday sales
The Apple Watch is helping Afib patients ditch blood thinners in a ground-breaking trial
3 reasons why PIA fell in our best VPN rankings
