Google Unveils Advanced Android XR Smart Glasses Prototype at TED2025

Google Showed Off Advanced AR Glasses That May Never Leave the Lab

Google's unnamed XR glasses include a display and AI connectivity, but we have no idea if Google will ever release it. All the usual suspects of big tech are engaged in a not-so-secret arms race to be the first to develop mass-market augmented reality glasses. We already know Google teamed up with Samsung to develop an Android-centric pair of glasses, but the company recently showed off another device to a small audience at the TED2025 conference, and already we can tell its the kind of XRâ€"AKA "extended reality"â€"that may take help us escape the tyranny of overlarge VR headsets. Shahram Izadi, the VP and general manager of XR at Google strode out on TED’s stage wearing what initially appeared to be a typicalâ€"though overly-largeâ€"pair of glasses (think Meta's huge and also unreleased Orion smart glasses). But they were Google’s XR glasses, and Izadi claimed they were displaying his speech notes to him as he talked. The glasses had a microphone, camera, and speakers to gather as much information. Google’s first XR device since Google Glass has an “in-lens display,†which Izadi held up to the camera for a scant few seconds, remarking “it’s very, very small.†That could point to the idea Google is experimenting with Waveguide-type glasses displays, featured in devices like the latest RayNeo glasses. The glasses themselves use Android XR, Google’s homegrown OS for extended reality devices. Google product manager Nishtha Bhatia showed the crowd what the glasses cameras could display through the built-in camera. She tapped one arm of the glasses, which launched the typical blue star Gemini logo at the bottom of her display, and after a half second the AI-voiced chatbot appeared ready to offer an eyeroll-worthy haiku about the gathered audience with their “faces all aglow.†Gemini can translate text it sees into different languages, though Izadi suggested that feature may produce mixed results. That same camera could also parse text and graphs and turn it into more-digestible soundbites. Izadi and Bhatia also showed off the “memory†feature that let the AI recall things it saw through the camera in the recent past. It’s akin to what Google Deepmind demoed with Project Astra last year. Google has slowly been adding Astra features, including photo and video recognition, to the Gemini Live chatbot interface, and it seems the company is looking to integrate similar features on an upcoming pair of AR glasses. The glasses should have more capabilities to connect with your smartphone and “access all your phone apps.†Yet the real killer feature is the connection with your other Google apps. Bhatia asked the glasses to look at a record from rapper Teddy Swims and play a track. The glasses opened up YouTube Music and played the requested song. We already enjoy the Ray-Ban Meta glasses well enough for their solid speakers without needing a pair of earbuds, so this is a no-brainer from Google. What was even wilder was that the display inside the glasses could work with Google Maps, offering a semi-holographic image of Google streetview for navigation. Google has been working behind the scenes on AR glasses for several years, even after the demise of Google Glass. Curiously, the pair shown at TED may not be sold under Google's own banner. The search giant is working hand in hand with Samsung on its Project Moohan smart glasses by enabling the device with Android XR. Google showed off the Samsung's prototype headset on the TED2025 stage. From what we’ve seen of Moohan, which may be a premium-priced device, the headset will act much like today’s Apple Vision Pro, but with more Gemini-enabled features. Samsung has also strongly hinted it's working on a separate pair of smart glasses, but we doubt what Google showed off this week is what's rumored to arrive later this year. Korean publication ETNews (read with machine translation) reported last month the upcoming device may not have a display or buttons. It would instead rely on a microphone for speech and a camera for gesture controls. Meanwhile Meta may also be working on an expensive pair of glasses with a tiny screen dedicated to an app shelf on the bottom of the right-hand lens. The display is what will truly set “augmented reality†glasses apart from the audio focused glasses we've see so far. To stand apart Google will need to figure out how to use a bigger display, while balancing battery life and the weight of the glasses. But if it does, we may finally get our AR kicks in without needing to shove a heavy headset over our eyes.

Google's Android XR glasses have made their first stage appearance

Google may have just given us a glimpse at what its future Android XR smart glasses could look like. At the ongoing TED Conference in Vancouver (via Axios), Shahram Izadi, who leads AR and VR initiatives at Google, took the stage wearing what looked like an ordinary pair of glasses. But these weren't just any glasses. They were working prototypes of Google's Android XR smart glasses. Android XR glasses are shaping up to be one of the most exciting advancements in the Extended Reality space. They ditch the bulky headsets for a sleeker, more comfortable design, and could make XR tech more accessible and affordable. Powered by Gemini, Google's AI, the glasses aim to become a whole new interface: think launching apps, using Circle to Search in real time, playing games, handling data, navigating with Google Maps projected into your line of sight, and more. We also recently discovered that Android Auto may be preparing support for smart glasses.

The wait for Google's first Android XR smart glasses could be longer than expected

Pixel Watch 4 leak suggests Google will hit copy-paste on the design Summary Samsung and Google are jointly developing smart glasses featuring the new Android XR software. A new report from South Korea claims these smart glasses could debut sometime in 2026, though no specific date was provided. Samsung is expected to debut its Android XR headset, dubbed Project Moohan, later this year. Since its announcement in December, we've learned a bit about Android XR, Google's software platform for mixed reality (AR/VR) headsets and smart glasses. Samsung's Project Moohan headset will be the first Android XR device to reach the market later this year. Meanwhile, we've also learned about a pair of smart glasses being developed by Google. These glasses were recently shown off onstage by the VP and GM of Google's XR division, Shahram Izadi, during a TED event in Vancouver. We're now getting more word on these smart glasses, courtesy of a report from South Korea. Related I'm glad Google's not going it alone with Android XR Android XR to launch on Samsung hardware Posts According to The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung and Google are "jointly" developing the new smart glasses, which will reportedly arrive sometime next year (via SammyGuru). Samsung was previously rumored to be working on a pair of smart glasses, albeit without a display similar to Meta's Ray-Ban shades. However, reports last month suggested that the company may have ditched those plans and pivoted towards a pair of glasses featuring a display and cameras, coupled with some AI elements baked in. A launch alongside the Galaxy S26? Source: Axios A prototype of the Google/Samsung Android XR smart glasses While The Korea Economic Daily's sources say that the new smart glasses will debut in 2026, a specific timeline wasn't provided. I am quite excited to see them in action, particularly given how unobtrusive they look on the face, not to mention the long list of functionalities unlocked via Gemini. While it's too early to say how much these smart glasses will cost, it's safe to predict they will be cheaper than the larger Project Moohan headset. Speaking of which, Samsung is expected to unveil a finished version of the Project Moohan prototype later this year, and we expect to see more of the headset in the weeks and months leading up to that date. Google and Samsung will likely have more to share about the Android XR-based smart glasses during the Galaxy S26 launch event, expected sometime in January 2026. Not a lot is known about these smart glasses. But based on the brief demos we've seen, they can offer real-time translations, read and respond to your texts, offer suggestions, and more. Google Gemini will unlock new use cases for wearers, which Project Glass set out to do all those years ago, despite its limited availability. What do you make of Samsung and Google's upcoming smart glasses?

Google's surprise Android XR glasses tipped to land in 2026 - and my only complaint is they aren't launching sooner

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have been a wild success for Meta, and it appears that Samsung and Apple have taken notice as the duo plans to launch their own Android XR and Apple XR glasses. We got our first peek at the Android XR glasses last week during a TED talk hosted by Google's head of augmented reality and extended reality, Shahram Izadi. The specs are a significantly smaller package than the Project Moohan Android XR headset Google and Samsung are collaborating on (via Axios) - and you can see the headset behind him on a shelf to get some sense of the size difference. In the surprise demo, Izadi used the glasses to perform a few tasks including live translation from Farsi to English, scanning a book using its in-built cameras, and helping them find their keys using a feature called 'Memory.' They also pack in a display so the wearer can receive information visually, not just via audio cues. Now The Korea Economic Daily is claiming this prototype is Samsung-made under the duo's existing Android XR partnership - and it's slated to launch next year. While leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt we've heard plenty of reports that Meta plans to launch its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses with a display later this year, so it's not out of the question that an Android XR device could follow soon after. What's more, given how impressive the prototype seems to be already - being able to perform a slew of tasks in a sleek package - it again seems likely that Google and Samsung aren't far from having a consumer-ready product. I just hope they aren't as pricey as Meta's glasses are rumored to be. Apple is also keen to create lightweight AR specs, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman (behind a paywall). According to people familiar with Apple's AR plans "It's the only thing he's really spending his time on from a product development standpoint." Though according to Gurman, Apple's glasses might still be a few years away. Because true AR glasses aren't yet achievable in Apple's mind (according to people in the know) it apparently first wants to focus on equipping its Apple Watch and AirPods with AI cameras to achieve some of the functionality of the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses we have today. Given Apple's struggles with AI on the iPhone 16 it makes sense that it wouldn't currently want to focus on AI smart glasses, though it does feel it could be late to the glasses party considering how soon Samsung, Google and Meta are expected to be launching specs. As with all leaks and speculation we'll have to wait and see what Apple has up its sleeve, but it could benefit from the same advantage Google will - one that Meta lacks. The most striking part of Google's prototype is the XR device looks an awful lot slimmer than other prototype AR glasses we've seen - such as the Meta Orion AR specs and Snap's 5th-gen Spectacles developer kit. That's because it is apparently leveraging Google's biggest advantage: an Android phone according to Izadi. He explained, "These glasses work with your phone, streaming back and forth, allowing the glasses to be very lightweight and access all of your phone apps." Because they lack their own phone brands to rely on, Meta and Snap would ideally want users to rely solely on their own standalone platform - one which they have complete control over to introduce the apps and experiences they most want to build. Control they don't have when merely piggybacking off Android via phone apps. Google, seeing as it runs the Android ecosystem, likely isn't keen for people to abandon its phones quite yet. So its glasses are instead designed to leverage the processors in your phone rather than a sophisticated chipset built into the glasses themselves (though we suspect they still have a little onboard processing power for simple display and camera operations). This allows Google to remove some of the bulk a beefy chipset requires - such as sophisticated cooling and a bigger battery - to create a slimmer end product without sacrificing overall performance (at least in theory). Apple could leverage a similar smartphone-to-glasses relationship with its own AR specs, though Meta and Snap's third-party approach has one advantage in that they are system agnostic. You can use which smartphone you want, or you might not even need a smartphone at all. Hopefully Google's symbiotic relationship between its glasses and phones results in smart specs that aren't as pricey as its competitors, as they don't need to pack in as many components. For example, Meta's rumored upcoming XR glasses with a screen are expected to cost as much as $1,400 (£1,100 / AU$2,200).

Google drops a surprise preview of its first smartglasses since Google Glass

Google Glass, in a new form, appeared this week in Vancouver. The maligned technology of a decade ago may be returning at the right moment as the AR market warms up. Two years after Google discontinued its ill-fated Google Glass AR glasses, the company is back in the smartglasses game with a mysterious new prototype that could help it compete with Meta. At the TED2025 conference in Vancouver this week, Shahram Izadi, Google's VP and general manager of XR, showed off a pair of unnamed mixed reality, AI-powered smartglasses in development at Google. The prototype glasses may put Google back on the map in a market that's beginning to heat up. During session 3 of TED2025 on Tuesday, Google offered a sneak preview of its new Android XR operating system alongside a mysteriously unnamed pair of smartglasses. Both are clear indicators that Google will make a return to the world of smartglasses, apparently undeterred by the failure of Google Glass, which spawned the term "glasshole" precisely a decade ago. During his TED Talk, Izadi wore a pair of inconspicuous smartglasses, using them to display and read off his notes. According to Izadi, the glasses have an in-lens camera, which is a clever design addition, but the demo of it only lasted a few seconds, so it's difficult to gauge image quality. The prototype glasses also had a speaker, microphone, and built-in Google Gemini connectivity. During the demo, Gemini was able to use the camera in the glasses to translate text and use visual input for context for tasks and questions. It's unclear if Google ever plans to offer this version of the glasses to consumers or if they're simply a proof-of-concept. Google certainly seems to be ramping up its smartglasses development, though, including recent negotiations to acquire a company that makes AR eye-tracking software. Between that acquisition and this overall impressive demo, Google is trying to get back in the game. Is it too late for Google to catch up to the Meta Ray-Bans? There is a growing number of brands competing to rule the smartglasses market, like VITURE with its Pro XR glasses or the Meta-powered Ray-Bans. The current leader is Meta, though, which stunned us last year with the first look at its Orion smartglasses. The Orion glasses could be the most advanced mixed reality smartglasses to date, but they aren't publicly available yet. They feature much more advanced displays and controls than most currently available smartglasses, meaning Orion could be an instant hit once Meta launches them for the public. So, it's no coincidence that Google is trying to return to the ring to challenge Meta in the smartglasses market, especially since Apple, another big rival, seemingly abandoned its smartglasses plans earlier this year. Google's unnamed prototype glasses don't appear to be quite as advanced as Meta's Orion glasses, but both are demo products, so a lot could change by the time either launches. Price and design are also important considerations, as well as AI capabilities. If Google can deliver less expensive or more streamlined glasses -- or integrate Gemini more effectively than Meta with its Meta AI -- Google glasses could stand a chance against Orion even if they aren't quite as advanced. Of course, it's also possible that the demo glasses Google showed off this week were just that, a demo. Google may be prioritizing developing its Android XR operating system and betting on partners like Samsung to build the hardware. In January, Youtuber Marques Brownlee tested out an Android XR headset with Gemini, made by Samsung, as the video above shows. Either way, this is another exciting turning point in what's shaping up to be a major year for smartglasses and mixed reality tech.