Report: Google Is Developing an AR Headset
Google is reportedly working on an augmented reality headset. Codenamed Project Iris, the technology could ship as early as 2024.
Similar to those in development by Meta and Apple, Google's device uses outward-facing cameras to fuse computer graphics with a real-world video feed, creating the mixed reality experience currently lacking in AR glasses.
As reported by The Verge, the early Project Iris prototype, which apparently looks like a pair of battery-powered ski goggles, uses a custom Google processor running on Android. A senior software engineer job listing, however, suggests a unique AR operating system is in development at the company.
Google's Augmented Reality OS team, led by recent recruit Mark Lucovsky, is looking for new members to help "develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and each other," the job description said, offering little in the way of clues about the next-generation operating system. Google did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.
Google entered the smart glasses arena in 2013 with the optical head-mounted Google Glass, but Glass, combined with its multi-year effort to sell VR headsets flatlined and the firm moved on to other projects. Competition from Meta and Apple appear to have spurred Google to re-enter the market.
The company formerly known as Facebook in October went so far as to rebrand itself to reflect its newest priority: building a virtual reality world dubbed the "metaverse." And one of the technologies Meta is working on to bring its sci-fi world to life is a VR headset called Project Cambria, expected next year.
Apple, meanwhile, is reportedly working on at least two AR ventures:
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