In our Ray-Ban Meta Sensible Glasses assessment, we described the gadget as the most effective AI wearable in the marketplace in the mean time – and it appears Google is able to get again into the sensible specs market with its personal pair of augmented actuality (AR) glasses.
In accordance with The Monetary Occasions and The Verge, Meta is considering shopping for a stake in EssilorLuxottica, the glasses maker that has partnered with Meta to provide two generations of the AR-enhanced Ray-Bans.
On the identical time, Google has additionally apparently approached EssilorLuxottica about launching one other pair of Ray-Bans, this time with Gemini AI on board. It is not fairly Google Glass, nevertheless it’s in the identical type of space.
Whereas the experiences say it is unlikely that EssilorLuxottica would minimize ties with Meta and accomplice with Google as a substitute, it is extra proof that Google is certainly engaged on a pair of AR specs, and desires to push Gemini into extra {hardware}.
The story to date
Earlier than merging with Essilor, Luxottica really teamed up with Google for the Google Glass gadgets, so the 2 firms do have a historical past collectively. It is sensible that they’d need to work collectively once more – even when Google Glass wasn’t an enormous hit.
We have seen quite a few indicators {that a} new and improved tackle Google Glass is on the way in which, together with code hidden inside the Google app for Android. We did see some specs briefly proven off at Google I/O 2022, however there’s been little substantial information since.
Again in Might, Magic Leap introduced that it was working with Google on “Prolonged Actuality (XR) options and experiences” however we do not actually know what that is going to lead to. Google can also be busy engaged on XR {hardware} with Samsung as nicely.
At Google I/O 2024, we additionally noticed sensible specs included in a demo of Mission Astra, Google’s imaginative and prescient of how superior AI might assist improve on a regular basis life – although the specs weren’t particularly referred to, and no official gadget particulars have been introduced.