On December 12, the company unveiled Android XR, a new, advanced operating system for headsets and smart glasses. With competition from the MetaQuest series heating up and Apple Vision Pro Leading the market, Google is banking on its Gemini generative AI to differentiate its offering.
Among the first devices slated to take advantage of Android XR is a pair of Samsung glasses, codenamed Project Mohan, which are expected to hit store shelves in 2025. The tech giant says future headsets and smart glasses will “change the way you see, work and explore.”
While Google has yet to announce a timeline for additional hardware or software built on top of Android XR, the operating system is already available in preview for developers and select partners.
What makes Android XR different?
Combining Android XR, Google Gemini and Glass hardware means devices can:
- Answer natural language questions about your surroundings using Gemini.
- Search the internet or create a list guided by AI with natural language.
- Play YouTube and Google TV.
- Display Google Photos in a virtual reality gallery.
- Use Circle Two Search to find more information about something in the real world or something online.
Google plans Android XR to power a variety of smart glasses.
“We want to have a wide selection of stylish, comfortable glasses that you’ll love to wear every day and that will work seamlessly with your other Android devices,” said Shahram Ezidi, Google’s VP and Extend. Realty’s general manager wrote in one. Blog post.
The tech giant plans to start privately testing Android XR on the new hardware soon. Expect new devices from Google’s Qualcomm partners, notably Sony, Lynx, and XREAL.
See: Google’s Latest AI Model, Gemini 2.0 Flashis a growing move towards ‘agentic’ AI.
Developers can now try out the Android XR Software Development Kit.
Developers can go and experiment with the Android XR Software Development Kit today. developer.android.com/develop/xr. Google is accepting applications for an Android XR developer bootcamp, which will provide early access to the hardware in exchange for collaboration with the internal XR team.
Android XR is compatible with ARCore, Android Studio, Jetpack Compose, Unity, and OpenXR.
Since Android XR is included. Android Play Storedevelopers with apps already in the Play Store can automatically make those apps available on augmented reality devices. To translate traditional apps into augmented reality, Android Recommends Material Design (M3) using its automated tools to localize components and Compose for adaptive layout..