Tech Giant Google Unveils Strategy to Captivate Users and Developers on Android XR Platform
Google announces ambitious plans for Android XR-powered smart glasses at Google I/O 2025
At its annual developer conference, Google has revealed its vision for a new generation of smart glasses powered by Android XR. The technology giant has partnered with eyewear brands like Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to create stylish glasses that will enable users to access popular apps like Google Maps, Messages, Calendar, and Photos directly through the device.
Google did not officially confirm a name for its Android XR glasses, but it did announce that it is partnering with innovative eyewear brands, starting with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, to create glasses that will offer users a seamless experience, blending technology with fashion. The company hopes to attract developers to build XR apps for the glasses, or even create their own smart glasses.
Like Meta, which partners with brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley for its Meta AI glasses, Google is seeking help from expert design partners for its smart glasses, which will include a camera, microphones, and speakers. The glasses will also offer an optional in-lens display, enabling users to receive private information without needing to physically reach for their phone.
In addition to its own smart glasses, Google plans to sell more affordable glasses that will not have holographic technology. These glasses will compete with Ray-Ban Meta glasses, currently the market leader. Samsung, which has already used Android XR for its Project Moohan headset, will now use the platform for its smart glasses as well. Google and Samsung have announced a partnership to create a software and reference hardware platform, which they will make available to other manufacturers to create great glasses.
One company, XREAL, has already used an early version of this software platform to announce its new Project Aura AR glasses on stage at I/O. Google hopes that more brands will follow. During the keynote, Google showed an idealized vision of how its apps would look on an XR glasses display, including examples of using Calendar, Maps, Messages, Translate, and other apps through voice commands. However, the company acknowledges that it still needs to create hardware that is lightweight, efficient, and has good enough resolution to make text clearly visible in the bottom third of a user's vision.
In a blog post, Google shared new tools available for developers as part of the Android XR Developer Preview 2. Apps can now use the background hand tracking SDK, with 26 posed hand joints tracked, and the Jetpack SDK now supports stereoscopic 180° and 360° videos. Developers can also draw a subspace for 3D content and choose how much space it takes on the display, and Unity OpenXR games get a performance boost with dynamic refresh rate. Google has also announced that it will integrate Gen AI into apps using Firebase AI Logic for Unity. Currently, all of these tools focus on traditional XR for headsets, but the company is still shaping dev tools for smart glasses and will share more details before the end of 2025. Google also promises that the Android XR Play Store will launch later in 2025 with compatible 2D apps, but it will give special attention to developers that create differentiated XR apps with spatial panels, environments, 3D models, and other XR-specific traits.
More details about Google's XR glasses will be revealed at I/O 2025, and our website will be demoing the glasses to report back whether the hardware lives up to Google's software promises. Developers can start building for the Android XR platform later in 2025.
The smart glasses powered by Android XR, announced by Google at its I/O 2025 conference, will not only allow users to access apps like Google Maps and Messages directly but also blend technology with fashion, as Google has partnered with style-conscious eyewear brands such as Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
Acknowledging the potential of augmented reality in sports, it's plausible that developers could create XR apps for Google's smart glasses, bringing real-time stats, player profiles, or even immersive virtual coaching to athletes and sports enthusiasts.
