WHEN you’ve seen as much tech as I have in over a decade of reporting there are few things that leave you truly excited.
But Google’s latest mind-blowing innovation may well fill that void – and much sooner than you may think.
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The tech big beast hosts a huge show every year in California to show off a load of major gizmos and projects.
But the one that everyone is talking about this year is Android XR, as companies flock to bring meaningful tech right up to our eyes.
Meaningful is key here – as it’s not the first time we’ve seen wearables from Google.
The firm boldly tried it with Google Glass more than ten years ago but it flopped massively.
Even Google co-founder Sergey Brin went on stage and admitted he “made a lot of mistakes” on Glass.
Now the tech giant is on the cusp of taking another stab at eyewear in the form of Android XR, working with partners like Samsung and more.
I attended the Google I/O conference for the second time, where I got the chance to try out a prototype pair for a few minutes.
While there is still some work to be done, I got a clear idea of where the device is going and several super handy use cases that will be truly life-changing for anyone.
First thing’s first, these glasses look and feel like any ordinary pair of glasses which is essential for this category to succeed.
We’ve seen how well it’s worked with Meta and its Ray-Ban collaboration, but with Android XR you get an augmented overlay on top of your field of view, as well as audio directly to your ears so you can ask Google’s ever-growing AI voice bot Gemini just about anything.
The pair I’m trying show visuals over one lens which don’t distract from your environment.
You can also press a button on the side to take a photo or video.
Information about items
Much like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, there is a lot of AI that can intelligently provide you with information about objects around you.
Of course, I only get a few short minutes to try Google’s Android XR prototype in a controlled environment, so a real world test to push the device to its limits is needed.
But for now, there’s a book and a plant.
I ask Gemini what the book is about, and it gives me a brief summary of the series it’s from and a flavour of the contents.
Next, I ask about a plant and how to take care of it.
It responds with the name of the planet and tells me the best way to look after it too.
Digital voice-powered assistants up until now have been notoriously finicky, only responding to very clear – and often rigid – commands or questions.
Here, I was able to mumble, pause and word my questioning without it confusing Gemini in the slightest.
Getting around
Mapping could be a real game-changer for everyone on Android XR.
When asking for directions, I can see an arrow floating in front of me with the name of the road I should turn down.
And when I glance down, I can see a small circular projection on the ground showing the Google Maps interface which moves as I move.
As someone who has spent far too long glancing from phone to path and back, I can see this feature being hugely useful.
And more to come
There are some features we’ve heard about but didn’t get to test just yet which could also make life remarkably easier.
We’ve seen in demo videos how Android XR is all-seeing, so it takes in and remembers what it sees proactively.
For example, when wearing them you may have put your keys down on the sofa.
Ask Gemini where you left your keys and it will remember seeing them and tell you where.
Similarly, we saw from one Google exec on stage during a demo how she had a coffee, put it down and minutes later asked Gemini to recall which coffee shop it was from – and the tech remembered.
So watch this space, as Android XR is due to be released at the end of the year and we’ve already heard about Samsung and another company called XReal adopting it.
Oh, and there is one huge caveat too – for as much as it means less screen time on your phone, you’ll still need your handset close by to run Android XR devices, so you won’t be able to ditch your mobile entirely.
