A decade after its “glasses” famously flopped, Google is reportedly back with a new pair of AR eyewear that can reportedly translate foreign languages, get you from A to B and basically video your entire life.
Google bosses have just announced that a small group of “trusted” testers and employees will begin to use the new augmented reality devices to see how they impact peoples’ everyday lives.
A blog post on the company’s website written by Google product manager Justin Payne announced: “These prototypes will include in-lens displays, microphones and cameras – but they’ll have strict limitations on what they can do.
“It’s early, and we want to get this right, so we’re taking it slow, with a strong focus on ensuring the privacy of the testers and those around them,” Payne penned.
Google has revealed the new glasses, currently in a prototype stage, “look like normal glasses, feature an in-lens display, and have audio and visual sensors, such as a microphone and camera.”
No actual imagery of the glasses has yet been released.
Adland has also been a big fan of the idea of AR glasses with their ability to deliver realtime, bespoke advertising to the wearer.
Google’s not the first of the tech giants to announce that it’s playing in the AR glasses space. Apple, Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft are all presently trialling their own versions.
Back in May, Google announced at a developer’s conference that its new glasses were ready for a test phase. “The magic will really come alive when you can use them in the real world without the technology getting in the way,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the time.
It also released the promotional video below:
In his blog, Payne added: “We’ll begin small-scale testing in public settings with AR prototypes worn by a few dozen Googlers and select trusted testers. These prototypes will include in-lens displays, microphones and cameras – but they’ll have strict limitations on what they can do. For example, our AR prototypes don’t support photography and videography, though image data will be used to enable experiences like translating the menu in front of you or showing you directions to a nearby coffee shop.”
