Google Reportedly Shifts Focus Away From AR Glasses, Focuses on Software
According to Insider, Google has apparently decided to abandon its AR project, known as ‘Project Iris,’ which involved developing an AR headset similar to glasses.
This follows the entry of competitors such as Meta’s new range of Quest headphones and Apple’s recently announced Vision Pro hybrid headphones.
According to an insider, Google has “killed” its AR glass project, internally codenamed Iris. This development comes after several layoffs, with Google’s head of augmented and virtual reality Clay Bavor leaving the company, according to “three people familiar with the matter.”
Now the company focuses on software, not hardware. According to Insider, Google is creating “software platforms for AR that it plans to license to other manufacturers” that make the headsets. Called “Micro XR” platforms for the glasses, the software has been internally tested as “Betty” and is advertised as “Android for AR.”
You can think of the micro XR platform as headset software that manufacturers can license for their headsets in the same way that many OEMs use Android for their smartphones.
Google is still developing its “ski goggle-like” headphones, but in collaboration with Samsung. While it may yet be released, there hasn’t been any news since Qualcomm announced that the three companies were working together to create a new platform.
The release states that while Google continues to work on its AR goals, “some teams” are still at work, but overall, teams have “moved to work on the software platform and the Samsung partnership.”
