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 flooring of the constructing. He took me to a personal workplace space the place I used to be in a position to expertise a few of the firm’s cutting-edge tasks.
Right here’s an image of me carrying certainly one 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 a hit. 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 know-how had working in opposition to it simply by that image…
It made you look ridiculous.
After all, I additionally regarded ridiculous with that bushy beard… however I had simply come again from a six month hiatus in Nicaragua, so please reduce 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.
Just a few 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 quite a bit 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 a substitute, they’re designed to stream knowledge backwards and forwards from an Android cellphone. This lets the cellphone do the heavy lifting whereas holding the glasses gentle and cozy.
But in addition they look like chock-full of options.
Google demoed real-time language translation, doc scanning and even a “reminiscence” perform to assist discover misplaced objects.
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 quite a bit tougher than tech firms anticipated.
Simply take 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 all over the place.”
Underneath his steering, 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.
Identified internally as “N107,” this latest undertaking was purported to deliver augmented actuality into the on a regular basis world with one thing fashionable sufficient to put on round city.
However now it’s not taking place.
In accordance with Bloomberg, Apple formally canceled its AR glasses undertaking earlier this 12 months, citing what had been in the end insurmountable technical challenges.
Apparently, a serious 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 coloration constancy.
Even for a corporation like Apple — recognized for affected person engineering and perfecting applied sciences others have rushed to market — useful and sensible AR glasses turned out to be too troublesome to supply.
As a substitute, Apple pivoted again to investing in MicroLED show know-how, which may ultimately 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 the same Google Glass-like goofiness and is priced out of attain for many customers.
After all, 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 appears 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 know-how to their faces in public. At the very least not but.
There’s nonetheless a stigma round trying unusual or disconnected whereas carrying cumbersome, high-tech gear. You possibly can design the perfect functioning AR glasses on the planet, but when the common individual 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, units and real-world environments stays a serious barrier to adoption.
And past leisure or novelty, AR hasn’t but delivered a “killer app” that makes carrying these units 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 have got Meta’s modern AI-assisted Ray-Bans that begin at $299.
Supply: Meta
Even in the event you by no means use the restricted know-how embedded in its frames, a minimum of you’re getting a trendy pair of glasses.
However when totally AR glasses price $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 difficulty.
AR glasses contain cameras and sensors that continuously scan the surroundings. This opens up a complete 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 may 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 supply these good glasses, introduced in February that over 2 million models have been bought because the product’s September 2023 launch.
I personal two pairs, and I 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 selecting 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 observe that the newer model is means higher than the primary one. It’s far more responsive.
Nevertheless it’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 might be nonetheless being examined internally.
The corporate is reportedly set to spend over $100 billion on digital and augmented actuality tasks this 12 months.
And it’s rumored Meta’s first “actual” AR glasses, codenamed “Artemis”, will probably be launched in 2027.
It will put them in stiff competitors in opposition to Google’s Android XR glasses.
Talking of which, Google appears to be like like it’s headed in the suitable route 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 clear up 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 slightly awkward or gimmicky.
Till the correct mix of consolation, utility and cultural acceptance comes collectively, AR glasses — even excellent 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 changing into part of on a regular basis life.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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