Google shows off smart glasses prototype at a TED event

In December, Google announced Android XR, an OS for VR and AR headsets. Then in January, it acquired HTC’s Vive XR team. This is building up to several things and one of them was recently showcased at a TED event in Vancouver.

Prototype smart glasses were worn by Shahram Izadi, the head of Android XR. These are not VR goggles, instead they have tiny displays that can overlay graphics on top of transparent glass.

They connect to a phone and lean on Google’s Gemini AI to do their magic. On stage, Izadi demonstrated live translation from Farsi to English, scanning a book and other uses.

The details aren’t clear at this point, but it seems that the phone does most of the heavy lifting in terms of computation to keep the glasses slim and light – which is vital for long-term comfort.

A preview of Android XR

Google is also working on XR goggles in partnership with Samsung – the Project Moohan device that will likely be sold as the “Galaxy XR”. Instead of overlaying graphics on glass, these goggles use cameras for passthrough video, which allows the user to see and interact with the outside world and are also capable of rendering complex graphics – like multiple virtual computer monitors. This was also demoed at the TED event.

The Samsung Galaxy XR goggles will reportedly be available later this year and could be quite expensive, costing around $2,500. Samsung is also working on glasses that might launch alongside the goggles. There is no word on when Google's glasses will be ready.

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