Google Shows Android XR Smart Glasses From Warby Parker and Gentle Monster

Google presented designs for smart glasses developed with Samsung and two eyewear companies at its I/O conference. The glasses will run on the Android XR platform and are scheduled to reach stores later this year.

Audio-only versions from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster are set to launch first. These frames contain cameras that let the Gemini assistant see the user's surroundings and answer questions about objects or scenes. Google said the audio output is directed so that nearby people hear little or nothing at normal volume.

Later models will add displays inside the lenses for turn-by-turn directions and text overlays. The glasses use the phone's GPS together with Google's Visual Positioning System to keep location markers accurate. Users can tap the frame to start Gemini Live conversations and request photo edits that appear on a connected phone or watch.

Xreal also showed Project Aura, a lighter mixed-reality device with an OLED screen and 70-degree field of view. The system supports full Android apps, hand gestures, and a tethered battery pack that currently lasts about four hours. Xreal said the processor is at least as powerful as the one in Samsung's Galaxy XR headset.