Google reveals Glimmer design system for Android XR AI glasses ahead of 2026 launch

Google on what to expect from Android XR transparent displays

Google Design has an interesting article this week about "Designing for Transparent Screens" and the work that went into Jetpack Compose Glimmer, Android XR's design system for Display AI Glasses. For those who haven't used smart glasses with displays before, the first thing to know is that the "interface doesn't actually appear on the surface of the lens itself." Rather, it is "projected to a perceived depth of about one meter away." Additionally, the display area is a square. You can get an idea of what to expect by "placing your hand in front of you at arm's length and focusing on your fingers." As you do this, the "environment behind and around your hand goes out of focus," as seen in the video below. This was a really pivotal realization for our Android XR design team early on. It sounds like a small detail, but it means that to read any content, a user has to consciously shift their focus. They're moving their gaze from the real world -- say, a friend's face, a stunning sunset, or the street ahead -- to this one-meter focal plane. It's not a passive glance; it's an active, physical choice to engage with the UI, even if just for a millisecond. Motion on this type of display cannot be "distracting or extraneous." Google's work on notifications found that a "typical motion transition of around 500 milliseconds" appeared too quickly: Instead of slowly drawing someone's attention, they would essentially "blink" and a notification would suddenly be in view. The implementation Android XR settled on has incoming notification transitions spanning about two seconds during which a circle (badged profile avatar) expands into a pill. With text, Google Sans Flex's optical size axis is used to improve readability at that one-meter distance: ...letters like a and e have larger counters (the openings inside the letter), and the dots on j's and i's are further away from the letter body. Bold typography and increased letter spacing are also recommended, with text measured in visual angle (degrees) instead of pixels or points: Think of it like driving along a highway. You see exit signs or speed-limit signs with text and graphics printed at a fixed size. But how big that text appears to you changes dramatically based on your distance. Far away, it's tiny; as you get closer, it grows. That's visual angle in action. These glasses use an additive display that can only add light. It cannot create black, which appears as 100% transparent, with Google equating it to "how a home movie projector can't project black." This proved an issue when Google initially tried to port existing Material components: Material Design, with its tactile metaphors of paper and layers, relies heavily on bright, opaque surfaces and subtle shadows. On an additive display, those "surfaces" turned into large, bright blocks of light, creating distracting glare and rapidly draining battery life. We quickly discovered another significant problem: halation. Halation is that effect where bright light sources bleed into adjacent darker areas, creating a blurry, halo-like fringe. On these displays, our bright surfaces would bleed into transparent content, making text completely illegible. Google's solution sees "surfaces use black to provide a legible 'clean plate' foundation for your content." This is paired with a "new depth system that casts dark, rich shadows to convey a sense of occlusion and space." Additionally, "highly saturated colors we'd typically use on a phone simply 'disappear' against the real world." As such, Android XR UI is "neutral by default" to "harmonize with the diverse colors of the real world." Color is used sparingly to draw attention to buttons and other important elements.

Google Introduces Glimmer UI for AI Glasses

The industry is racing up to build the next generation of UI for AI glasses that blends into the real world. Google has introduced Glimmer, a new design language built for AI-powered display glasses. It's part of the Android XR initiative, and it prioritizes voice, gesture and eye-tracking with transparent UI elements. The new Glimmer design system focuses on "glanceable, transient elements that appear only when needed". Glimmer's UI appears on optical see-through AI glasses at one meter away, instead on the lens itself. It's optimized for transparent displays, so UI is legible, low-distraction and works with voice, gesture and eye input. Google has published a Jetpack Compose Glimmer that features components, theme, and behaviors and a Figma kit. Android developers can build Glimmer-styled UIs for AI glasses. UI elements have rounded corners and floating tiles for multitasking. And to read in real-world backgrounds, Google has gone with dark surfaces and bright content for contrast. Throughout the UI, sharp corners are discouraged because they are displeasing to the eye. Google says the Glimmer UI must "harmonize" with reality instead of taking the attention away from the user. In a way, it's an ambient UI by Google for the upcoming AI glasses revolution, under the Android XR initiative. Google further notes that the UI must earn attention of the user without being dominating. Next, on these AI glasses, the display is additive, meaning it can only add light. So, true black won't exist and black appears as 100% transparent in a container. Highly saturated colors also disappear in real-world backgrounds. So, Google is going for neutral and desaturated color palette with dark surfaces and bright content. It's a break from Google's Material Design principles and moving towards physics-aware UI philosophy where perception is more important than the screen.

Google details how users will control and navigate Android XR glasses ahead of 2026 launch

New 'Glimmer' design language guidelines are set for optical see-through displays. Google has been releasing detailed design documentation and development tools related to its forthcoming Android XR glasses platform. 9to5Google has found updated instructions that tell how users will be able to control and navigate these glasses. Read on to know what to expect in terms of their hardware controls, software navigation, display behaviour and thermal dissipation. This should give you an idea of what the overall Android XR experience will look like. Google has officially named the two hardware categories: Importantly, users can turn off the display at any time. This means you can have visuals when needed or enjoy voice-only when preferred. It also indicates that Google sees voice and AI interaction, likely powered by Gemini, as central to the platform rather than just an add-on. Also Read: Best smart glasses with AI, AR and VR you can buy in India Google is standardising key physical controls across all Android XR glasses. Every device must include: Models with displays will also feature a separate display button, typically placed on the underside of the stem. It allows users to wake or sleep the screen, effectively switching between visual and audio-only modes. The camera button supports multiple actions. A single tap captures a photo, while a long press records video. Pressing again stops recording, and a double press launches the Camera app. You can use the touchpad through these gestures: On display models, swipes also handle scrolling, focus movement and button selection inside apps. Each device will include two LEDs, one visible to the wearer and one to bystanders. These act as system indicators for whether the device is on, off, whether it is recording, etc. Developers cannot modify these LEDs. So, you see, Google is standardising privacy cues across the ecosystem. On Display AI Glasses, users will see a home screen that Google compares to a smartphone lockscreen. At the bottom sits a persistent system bar showing time, weather, notifications, alerts and Gemini feedback. Above it, users can view contextual, glanceable information, suggested shortcuts to likely next actions, and ongoing activities when multitasking. Notifications appear as pill-shaped chips, and you can select to expand them. Google has chosen 'Glimmer' design language for Android XR glasses with guidelines for soft corners, what colours to choose based on power and heat efficiency, Material Symbols Rounded as the standard icon, and the use of a stack layout that shows one piece of content at a time. So, you can expect consistency across brands employing the Android XR platform. Google's approach includes a combination of physical buttons, touch gestures and voice control in a lightweight glasses format. By requiring apps to function without a display, Google is prioritising AI-driven, voice-first interaction as a core experience. Let's see how the end products pan out. Keep reading Digit.in for similar updates.