In 2014, I put on Google Glass for the first time at the site of GDG Devfest China.
It was considered the world’s first smart glasses. At that time, it was just a “prototype product” purely for developers. It can record video, support voice interaction, and support the “mirror” of some applications through Mirror API to the LCD silicon-coated LED screen with less than an inch and a wide field of view.
Unfortunately, Google Glass is extremely short-lived, with only 2 years from its introduction to discontinuation. But through it, I think I see the future.
Over the past decade, Snapchat, Oculus/Meta and Rayban have made waves in the market of smart glasses/head wearable products. However, it seems that there is nothing wrong with Google on this track.
I have also played many follow-up products, and even became a heavy user. But from time to time, I always think of Google Glass.
On today’s Google I/O, the company has rekindled the flame of smart glasses and head wearable products.
Google officially released the latest generation of Android XR products and technology lines: Project Aura, the first lightweight smart glasses product jointly launched with Xreal.
After reading the I/O 2025 main speech, I opened Google Photos and looked back at me wearing these products, from youth to maturity.
With the advancement of display and interaction technology, Android XR has finally picked up the baton that Google Glass threw on the ground ten years ago. Gemini’s complete innovation of all Google products has given Android XR the “magic bonus” of AI.
On the way, Google glasses are back. But this is not Yesterday once more, but the beginning of a new era.
The first Android platform in the Gemini era
To be honest, Android, as a smartphone operating system, is not enough to attract any interest. Even Google itself did not set aside time for its own keynote speech at I/O 2025.
But the status of Android XR is completely different. According to Google’s wording, it is the first Android platform built in the Gemini era.
Obviously, mobile phones have become a thing of the past, and head-mounted smart devices will create a new interactive experience and become the new growth engine of Android.
This time, Google did not produce its own glasses, but chose to work with excellent technical partners.
Project Aura is the first lightweight smart glasses for the Android XR platform, co-launched by Google and Xreal, a Chinese mixed reality technology company.
At present, there are very few parameter details. Through renderings and I/O 2025 live demo, it can be seen that this lightweight smart glasses:
There are at least two cameras on the left and right, and other visual sensor modules in the middle, for taking photos, videos, and more importantly – supporting Gemini’s visual/agent intelligence capabilities (Google Project Astra)
There are two-channel stereo speakers and an array of multiple microphones for calls, recording, and supporting Gemini’s voice interaction capabilities.
Single-screen display embedded in the lens (waveguide or other implementation methods unknown)
This is a product that is still in the testing stage, but Google still bravely made some demos of supported functions on the spot – mainly reflecting Gemini’s intelligent body capabilities as a core selling point.
For example, real-time translation/simon: the two speakers on the scene used Hindi and Persian to translate each other. Although the signal of one of them did not look very good, the translation effect was still amazing.
The translation is plain text, but we can conclude from the earlier Gemini part of the speech that Gemini must have the ability to output audio directly. Gemini’s own natural language interaction supports 45 languages in more than 150 countries, but the voice translation capability as of mid-May 25 only supports English-Spanish translation, but dozens of languages will be added in the coming weeks.
This gives Android XR glasses a powerful usage scenario. Whether it is cross-language work or traveling abroad, this translation/transmission ability makes more natural interpersonal interaction possible.
Break the language barrier and provide you with real-world subtitles and even dubbing – this is what Android XR and Gemini want to do.
Other effects of Android XR glasses were also demonstrated on the spot. For example, users (especially visually impaired users) can directly ask Gemini what they see, search and answer by pressing keys or voice wake-up.
This is actually the visual search ability of Google Lens, which Google has been doing nearly 10 years ago. But with Gemini’s AI plus, the ability will be more powerful.
The female speaker on the scene greeted a colleague in the background, and then woke up Gemini after a few minutes and asked her to make an appointment for coffee with the person she had just met;
She also asked Gemini if she remembered which shop the coffee she had just held in her hand was from, and which coffee shop she made an appointment with.
Gemini quickly completed the previous record retriever and set the calendar items.
——This shows that Android XR smart glasses can not only accurately remember who users have just seen, but also understand multi-modal contexts such as visual-voice, so as to accurately understand the needs of users.
Behind these capabilities is the new generation of multi-modal destal models such as Gemini 2.5 Pro upgraded by Google at this I/O 2025, and the project Astra intelligent assistant technology.
Gemini 2.5 Pro and Project Astra drive the real-time visual AI intelligent assistant function of Gemini Live, and today is officially launched for Android and iOS Gemini app. It is online and provided to all users for free.
On Android mobile phones and Android XR glasses platforms, Gemini Live has been upgraded to a full-intelligent body with full device control ability, which can be based on the current visual environment context and the user’s natural voice control. Complete multi-step and complex tasks.
Google smart glasses, reborn in the fire
At that time, Google Glass challenged people’s privacy awareness and social habits, and was not favored by the market, so it can also be said that it was dead.
Today, when everyone can’t wait to have a camera on their foreheads, smart glasses are no longer the focus of controversy. Perhaps when everyone has smart glasses, privacy has given way to new functions and revolutionary experiences.
Of course, Google still remembers all the disputes about privacy, so it also said that it will continue to collect feedback from users and testers during the product development process, so as to ensure that the product violates privacy less and provides more help.
Google Glass may be dead, but Google has not stopped researching smart glasses. Today, all the efforts of more than ten years have finally been reborn through Android XR Nirvana.
A good pair of glasses should not be just a technical product. The successful experience of Meta and Rayban with 2 million pairs of sales has taught Google a good lesson.
At the I/O conference, Google also announced that it would cooperate with two well-known eyewear brands and retailers, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, to launch Android XR glasses that are both fashionable and technological.
As the latest fashion brand under the Vision Road Group, Gentle Monster is very popular among young people in Asia and Europe and the United States, and its products can often be sold at prices that far exceed their materials, workmanship and design standards. After entering the Android XR project, I’m afraid the premium of Gentle Monster will only become more exaggerated.
Warby Parker is an O2O concept glasses brand that has become popular in the United States in recent years. Users can use its app or website to conveniently order multiple frames at once, and then return unnecessary and unsightly products after trial.
There is no doubt that if smart glasses want to expand their sales channels, it is the minimum to play the role of “fashion items”. Considering that the two major brands, Rayban and Oakley, have been compiled by Meta, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker may be the best choices left.
Finally, the only regret is that considering Gemini’s overseas big model identity – even if Android XR can be adopted by Chinese device brands, it may be difficult for Chinese users to feel the perfect combination of hardware and models.
Fortunately, at this I/O conference, Google has given a good look to manufacturers through Android XR. The speed of refinement and productization of large models in China is faster than that of overseas.
Perhaps we can also expect that this wave of smart glasses will completely break out.