Google (GOOG, GOOGL) is teaming up with Warby Parker (WRBY) and Gentle Monster to develop AI-powered smart glasses. The company announced the partnerships during its Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif., on Tuesday, saying that it is also extending its existing relationship with Samsung to intelligent eyewear, as well.
The move puts Google in direct competition with Meta (META), which already offers its own Ray-Ban Meta AI-powered glasses. Apple (AAPL) is also working on its own smart glasses, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, but they may not hit the market until sometime in 2027.
Google’s plans call for its glasses to work with your smartphone, similar to Meta’s offerings, and will come equipped with a camera, speakers, and microphones that will allow you to interact with apps without having to reach for your phone. Naturally, they’ll also feature Google’s Gemini AI models.
The glasses will run on Google’s new Android XR operating system and will be available with an optional in-lens display that will provide you with information like text messages, turn-by-turn directions, the ability to take photos, and real-time translation.
Google says it’s working with partner companies to help them start building glasses later this year and that it will team up with testers who will provide feedback on usefulness and privacy.
This isn’t Google’s first foray into smart glasses. The Search giant famously released its Google Glass headset as part of its Explorer program in 2013 and later made them available to the public in 2014. But their design, which included a small prism-like display in front of one lens, and $1,500 starting price turned off potential customers.
Despite failing to gain traction, many of the technologies Google built into Glass are coming into vogue. It’s worth remembering that Glass hit the market before the world was used to the ubiquity of smartphone cameras in their faces all of the time. And the idea of someone being able to snap a photo of you using their glasses raised a number of privacy concerns.
To be sure, those worries are still relevant today, but consumers appear more tolerant of the concept now. It’s also worth noting that Glass was far from attractive. Meta’s smart glasses look like any other pair of Ray-Bans, whereas Glass looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Google’s smart glasses are part of its broader augmented reality and virtual reality efforts. The company is also working with Samsung and Qualcomm (QCOM) to develop Samsung’s Project Moohan, which is scheduled to go on sale later this year.
