Google is trying to revive the virtual world with Android XR. Gemini will have a central role in the ecosystem.
Google announced Android XR in a blog. This new version of Android is designed to suit XR glasses and headsets. XR stands for extended reality and is just one of many terms describing the combination of virtual elements in the physical world. Developers can get started with the OS starting today.
The blog shows some demos of how Google applications would behave in Android XR. Among other things, you will be able to watch YouTube videos on a virtual screen or Google Photos in 3D views. With Google Maps you can project navigation onto the road and with Google Lens or Circle to Search you can look up things you see in the real world.
Gemini
Google unsurprisingly puts Gemini at the heart of the Android XR ecosystem. According to the company, deeper AI integration is the key to making extended reality a success and even describes Gemini as the “killer app” that has been missing until now. The announcement earlier this week of Gemini 2.0 with improved multimodal output steams the AI assistant ready for the virtual world.
The first headset compatible with Android XR should appear next year. That honor should go to Project Moohan: a joint project between Google, Samsung and Qualcomm. So despite reports of struggles between Google and Samsung, the glasses could be coming soon. Google previously scrapped proprietary XR hardware to focus on software development.
New attempt
Google has high hopes for Android XR. It calls headsets “the next generation” of computing. Yet this is far from the first time Google has stuck a toe in the virtual pond, and so far it has met with little success. Consider the Google Glass, which failed and has since been buried in the Google graveyard for some time.
Can Android XR revive the market of extended reality, augmented reality, mixed reality or whatever name you want to give the beast? A year ago, we asked the same question about the Apple Vision Pro, and it, too, is not yet a great success. Meta’s metaverse is barely even talked about anymore. Despite all attempts to revive it, users as well as developers always seem to lose interest quickly.
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