Again in 2014, a buddy who was working for Google invited me on a tour of the corporate’s headquarters.
One of many highlights for me was our journey to the highest ground of the constructing. He took me to a non-public workplace space the place I used to be in a position to expertise a number of the firm’s cutting-edge initiatives.
Right here’s an image of me carrying one in every of them, proper across the time the tech was being launched to the general public
In case you possibly can’t inform from the image, these are Google Glass, Google’s first stab at augmented actuality (AR) wearables.
They weren’t successful. The corporate pulled Google Glass from the market in 2015, only one 12 months later.
And you may inform one of many large issues this expertise had working towards it simply by that image…
It made you look ridiculous.
In fact, I additionally seemed ridiculous with that bushy beard… however I had simply come again from a six month hiatus in Nicaragua, so please lower me some slack.
Anyway, the explanation I’m sharing this image with you at the moment is as a result of Google is at it once more.
A number of weeks in the past at a TED occasion, Google’s head of augmented and prolonged actuality, Shahram Izadi, shocked the viewers by pulling a glossy pair of Android XR glasses out of his pocket.
These glasses are being developed with Samsung, and proper off the bat they appear loads higher than Google Glass.
They’re light-weight. Slim. They look like genuinely wearable, not the cumbersome prototypes we’ve seen with related AR merchandise.
That’s as a result of these glasses aren’t attempting to cram a supercomputer onto your face.
As an alternative, they’re designed to stream information backwards and forwards from an Android cellphone. This lets the cellphone do the heavy lifting whereas protecting the glasses gentle and comfy.
But additionally they look like chock-full of options.
Google demoed real-time language translation, doc scanning and even a “reminiscence” operate to assist discover misplaced gadgets.
It’s one of many cleanest visions of augmented actuality I’ve seen but.
The one catch…
That they’re not anticipated to launch till 2026.
So what are the possibilities that these Android XR glasses succeed the place Google Glass and so many different merchandise prefer it have failed?
I’ve some ideas…
The Wearable AR Curse
Bringing AR glasses into the mainstream has been loads more durable than tech firms anticipated.
Simply have a look at Apple. The corporate’s CEO, Tim Cook dinner, has been all-in on augmented actuality for years, saying he’s “extremely excited by AR” as a result of he can “see makes use of for it in all places.”
Underneath his steerage, Apple has spent the previous two years engaged on its second try at creating light-weight AR glasses. The primary try by no means went anyplace.
Recognized internally as “N107,” this latest challenge was purported to carry augmented actuality into the on a regular basis world with one thing fashionable sufficient to put on round city.
However now it’s not occurring.
In accordance with Bloomberg, Apple formally canceled its AR glasses challenge earlier this 12 months, citing what had been finally insurmountable technical challenges.
Apparently, a significant drawback was that the glasses drained an excessive amount of battery when tethered to an iPhone. Apple then tried to shift the workload to a Mac, however that made the design too cumbersome.
In the meantime, makes an attempt to miniaturize the show {hardware} bumped into severe issues with display screen high quality, movement blur and shade constancy.
Even for a corporation like Apple — recognized for affected person engineering and perfecting applied sciences others have rushed to market — practical and sensible AR glasses turned out to be too troublesome to provide.
As an alternative, Apple pivoted again to investing in MicroLED show expertise, which might finally allow extra sensible wearables down the street.
For now, although, they’re putting their bets on the Imaginative and prescient Professional headset, which suffers from an analogous Google Glass-like goofiness and is priced out of attain for many customers.
In fact, each firm has to take care of the apparent {hardware} issues like battery life, processing energy and show high quality.
And these points are even harder to resolve while you’re attempting to shrink a high-performance laptop down into one thing that appears and looks like common glasses.
However the problem with AR wearables isn’t nearly technical issues…
It’s additionally about human issues.
Most individuals simply don’t appear able to strap expertise to their faces in public. A minimum of not but.
There’s nonetheless a stigma round wanting unusual or disconnected whereas carrying cumbersome, high-tech gear. You may design one of the best functioning AR glasses on the earth, but when the common particular person feels awkward carrying them in a espresso store, they’re not going to catch on.
Then there’s the problem of use instances.
Even essentially the most superior AR glasses can’t succeed if the software program ecosystem is clunky, restricted or awkward to make use of.
Integration throughout apps, gadgets and real-world environments stays a significant barrier to adoption.
And past leisure or novelty, AR hasn’t but delivered a “killer app” that makes carrying these gadgets really feel important.
It’s true that AR glasses are proving their price In enterprise settings like warehouses and surgical procedures. Even the much-maligned Google Glass has quietly had a second life in these environments.
However for on a regular basis use?
Most customers simply don’t see the worth. Particularly with such excessive worth factors.
On one hand, you’ve got Meta’s trendy AI-assisted Ray-Bans that begin at $299.
Supply: Meta
Even when you by no means use the restricted expertise embedded in its frames, not less than you’re getting a trendy pair of glasses.
However when totally AR glasses value $1,000 or extra and their worth feels unproven…
It’s no marvel this tech hasn’t taken off but.
And that’s not even addressing the privateness challenge.
AR glasses contain cameras and sensors that continually scan the setting. This opens up an entire host of information safety and surveillance considerations.
So what does this imply for Google’s new Android XR glasses?
Right here’s My Take
Frankly, I imagine Google’s new glasses might be a success.
That’s, if Meta doesn’t beat them to it. In any case, Meta’s Ray-Bans are already quietly going mainstream.
EssilorLuxottica, the corporate that companions with Meta to provide these good glasses, introduced in February that over 2 million models have been offered because the product’s September 2023 launch.
I personal two pairs, and I really like them. Their first-person view actually has me hooked.
I can think about a future the place I’m in a position to relive choosing up my children after they had been little as a result of I captured a video of that second by way of my glasses.
I ought to notice that the newer model is manner higher than the primary one. It’s way more responsive.
But it surely’s not AR.
Nonetheless, the corporate is working exhausting to grow to be a frontrunner in AR wearables. Final September Meta unveiled proprietary AR glasses which can be nonetheless being examined internally.
The corporate is reportedly set to spend over $100 billion on digital and augmented actuality initiatives this 12 months.
And it’s rumored Meta’s first “actual” AR glasses, codenamed “Artemis”, might be launched in 2027.
It will put them in stiff competitors towards Google’s Android XR glasses.
Talking of which, Google appears like it’s headed in the best path by not attempting to jam each chip and sensor into the glasses themselves.
But when Apple wasn’t in a position to efficiently offload processing onto the iPhone, I’m wondering how Google can remedy related issues round battery life.
And the corporate nonetheless must get previous the primary points with AR wearables.
Even the best-designed glasses can’t change the truth that many customers are hesitant to undertake head-worn tech, particularly if it nonetheless feels a bit of awkward or gimmicky.
Till the right combination of consolation, utility and cultural acceptance comes collectively, AR glasses — even superb ones — will keep caught on the sidelines.
But when Google can lastly ship on its promise, 2026 may simply be the 12 months AR glasses begin turning into part of on a regular basis life.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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