Making Android XR Glasses That Don’t Suck Is Going to Be Very Hard

I’ll be honest with you: I think smart glasses are awesome. I don’t mean to say they work well all the time, or that they don’t do half of what they should do at this stage, or that they don’t need a massive dose of computing power. Those things are all true in my honest opinion. But even despite having to scream at my pair of Meta Ray-Bans to play Elton John this morning, only for them to repeatedly try and play John Prine instead, I love them for one thing: their potential. And Google—if I/O 2025 is any indication—sees that same potential, too. It spent quite some time during its keynote laying out its vision for what smart glasses might be able to do via its Android XR smart glasses platform and supporting hardware made with Xreal. The possibilities are enticing. With Android XR and smart eyewear like Project Aura glasses, the form factor could actually get to the next level, especially with optical passthrough that can superimpose stuff like turn-by-turn navigation in front of you ... Read full article.