It sure sounds like Google is planning to actually launch some smart glasses

Google is moving connected a batch of AI worldly — like, a lot of AI worldly — but if you privation to truly recognize the company’s imaginativeness for virtual assistants, instrumentality a look astatine Project Astra. Google archetypal showed a demo of its all-encompassing, multimodal virtual adjunct astatine Google I/O this outpouring and intelligibly imagines Astra arsenic an always-on helper successful your life. In reality, the tech is determination betwixt “neat conception video” and “early prototype,” but it represents the astir ambitious mentation of Google’s AI work.

And there’s 1 happening that keeps popping up successful Astra demos: glasses. Google has been moving connected astute facewear of 1 benignant oregon different for years, from Glass to Cardboard to the Project Iris translator glasses it showed disconnected 2 years ago. Earlier this year, each Google spokesperson Jane Park would archer america was that the glasses were “a functional probe prototype.”

Now, they look to beryllium thing astatine slightest a small much than that. During a property briefing up of the motorboat of Gemini 2.0, Bibo Xu, a merchandise manager connected the Google DeepMind team, said that “a tiny radical volition beryllium investigating Project Astra connected prototype glasses, which we judge is 1 of the astir almighty and intuitive signifier factors to acquisition this benignant of AI.” That radical volition beryllium portion of Google’s Trusted Tester program, which often gets entree to these aboriginal prototypes, galore of which don’t ever vessel publicly. Some testers volition usage Astra connected an Android phone; others done the glasses.

Later successful the briefing, successful effect to a question astir the glasses, Xu said that “for the glasses merchandise itself, we’ll person much quality coming shortly.” Is that definitive impervious that Google Smart Glasses are coming to a store adjacent you sometime soon? Of people not! But it surely indicates that Google has immoderate hardware plans for Project Astra.

Smart glasses marque cleanable consciousness for what Google is trying to bash with Astra. There’s simply nary amended mode to harvester audio, video, and a show than connected a instrumentality connected your look — especially if you’re hoping for thing similar an always-on experience. In a caller video showing Astra’s capabilities with Gemini 2.0, a tester uses Astra to retrieve information codes astatine an flat building, cheque the weather, and overmuch more. At 1 point, helium sees a autobus flying past and asks Astra if “that autobus volition instrumentality maine anyplace adjacent Chinatown.” It’s each the benignant of happening you can do with a phone, but astir each of it feels acold much earthy done a wearable.

Right now, astute glasses similar these — and similar Meta’s Orion — are mostly vaporware. When they’ll ship, whether they’ll ship, and whether they’ll beryllium immoderate bully each remains up successful the air. But Google is dormant superior astir making astute glasses work. And seems to beryllium conscionable arsenic superior astir making the astute glasses itself.