While Meta's Quest line of headsets has dominated the virtual reality space, mixed reality -- using digital displays overlaying the real world -- is a new frontier that's just starting to be explored, going beyond the new Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 to devices more akin to the Ray-Ban Display glasses. That's where Google's Project Moohan MR display aims to make headway. Unlike its prior efforts in the space, like Google Glass, the company hopes to gain an edge by partnering with Qualcomm and Samsung to bolster its chances.
At the Snapdragon Summit 2025 in Maui, I sat down to chat with Sameer Samat, Google's head of Android, and Alex Katouzian, Qualcomm group general manager of mobile, compute and XR, to check in on Project Moohan and how the broadening of Android and Gemini coalesces with their collaboratively built headset. Which, despite CNET Editor at Large Scott Stein getting hands-on time with an early version of it last December, is still in development.
"We're super excited about the device coming along really nicely," Samat said. "We're definitely getting closer."
It was clear to Snapdragon Summit attendees that Project Moohan is still in development. The headset was quietly tucked into an easily missed corner of the event, shown off for only a couple of hours under glass and out of anyone's hands. But Samat was bullish about the progress made in the last year, which has "subtle but very important refinements to the hardware," he said.
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Qualcomm group general manager Alex Katouzian and Google head of Android Sameer Samat chatted with CNET's David Lumb at the Snapdragon Summit 2025. David Lumb/CNET
Design-wise, Samat explicitly pointed to improvements in the weight balance, ensuring the ergonomics are correct and that the light ingress is where it should be. Where the weight is balanced is crucial in the design of smart glasses that are expected to be worn for hours at a time. When the Apple Vision Pro launched in early 2024, CNET's Stein noted that the headset felt top-heavy after only half an hour when using the standard single strap. However, using the dual strap was more comfortable, but, in his words, "Looks like the headband on my CPAP machine." In summary: "A bunch of changes there that I don't think you see when you look at it, but when you put it on from before and after, I think people would very much notice," he said.
"I saw early prototypes until now, big difference," added Katouzian. "I think the weight and the balance is really good and mechanically very well designed."
Project Moohan uses Qualcomm's XR2 mixed reality chip. The company worked with Google and Samsung to optimize everything, Katouzian said.
The software has come a long way, Samat continued, and he was quick to affirm that there's been a lot of refinement in incorporating Gemini into the headset. That loops Project Moohan into the drum Qualcomm and Google were beating throughout Snapdragon Summit 2025: the Gemini experience that uses multiple large language models to answer queries will be an increasingly significant part of using devices, from phones to laptops to headsets, going forward.
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