Google hasn’t said a word or provided any explanation for the discontinuation of Google Glass. Now it has phased out another project, its Iris smart glasses which have gone through different eras to finally end their existence. The fact is that the different course changes of the directive and the pressure they had to exert, almost unwittingly, the new Apple Glasses brought Google back to a destination it knows very well.
It is glasses code name ‘Iris’ They had a very difficult start to the year: massive layoffs by the company, departure of Google’s AR/VR manager and various employee reorganizations which further aggravated the mess. The end result is that Google is shelving another project in which it had great interest in moving on to developing software for this type of AR headset or glasses.
Iris first published in January 2022 as a series of devices more similar to goggles, although at first it was understood that they were more like ski goggles; so that finally Google employees said that these were the basis of another augmented reality project associated with Samsung.
Initially, it would be a Google project with various major additions and purchase of North, a Canadian startup that was in charge of the first version of Iris, although very similar to the Focals, those previously created by this company. Finally, they were able to show a more advanced version with translation capabilities.
The worst problem was the various changes made by Google officials in the Iris team, which contributed to a general frustration and a goal that was unclear for the interests of these augmented reality glasses. Also, pressure from Apple with lightweight glasses similar to Google’s Iris, or those from Samsung that would directly compete with them, contributed to Google’s lack of interest in pursuing this project.
Indeed, part of the team that worked on Iris will start developing on the software platform, while others will go to Samsung to transfer all the experience these years to the glasses of the Korean manufacturer. Ditching its own Iris hardware, Google is now focusing on augmented reality software platforms with the idea of licensing other headset makers.
One of these platforms, according to Business Insider Europe, is Android Extended Reality (XR) for Samsung glasses. Therefore, employees working on micro XR software use a prototyping platform known as Betty. It would be “the Android for Augmented Reality” more focused on software than hardware. In other words, Google is looking for a way to continue the success of Android on mobiles and other devices in a segment in which more and more players are joining.
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