Google Begins AR Headset Development to Compete With Apple and Meta

[MacRumors]

Google has internally kickstarted the development of an augmented reality headset that will "blend computer graphics with a video feed of the real world" to deliver an immersive AR experience, with a launch tentatively set for 2024, according to a report from The Verge.

The report describes the headset, codenamed Project Iris, as a "tightly kept secret" at Google with around 300 employees working on the project. Project Iris will use an array of sensors and cameras to project computer-generated content onto the real world.

One technical challenge of such headsets is being able to compute complicated 3D environments using high-performance mobile chipsets. A custom Google processor will reportedly power Project Iris, but even that may not be enough as the report suggests Google could offload some performance to data centers to render content.

On the software side, the headset will be powered by Android, although Google job listings indicate a new operating system specifically designed for AR could be under development.

Google's past attempts at augmented and virtual reality include Google Glass, Google Cardboard, and Daydream, but none ever went mainstream. The development of Project Iris comes as competition builds in the emerging AR industry as Meta, Apple, and now Google begin planning for future dominance.

Apple has been hard at work on its first AR headset. The headset will be Apple's first major new product category since the Apple Watch and will also be the company's first major push in the VR and AR space.

Apple's headset, yet to be named, could see a public launch as soon as this year, but recent reporting suggests Apple is facing thermal concerns with the headset, threatening a delay until 2023. Learn more about Apple's VR and AR plans with our dedicated roundup.

Article Link: Google Begins AR Headset Development to Compete With Apple and Meta

 

[scottie2345]

Cue the fanboys moaning on about Google copying when they did it first with the glasses!!!
Scottie

 

[giggles]

Cue the fanboys moaning on about Google copying when they did it first with the glasses!!!
Scottie

A completely different product in terms of implementation/scope doesn’t cut it for “we were first” bragging rights. (even more so if it’s a commercial failure)

The Android prototype before the iPhone looked like a Blackberry.

 

[djcerla]

the report suggests Google could offload some performance to data centers to render content.

“We’ll fix it in the cloud”.

 

[Dater]

Ready Player Three (Meta, Apple, Google)

Soon everyone is going to have a VR/AR headset and will be able to take photos and videos by blinking with your eyes. Then we need new laws that there shall be a red blinking led when recording stuff, so it can't be done secretly...
Dystopian future!

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Apple first started working on VR in collaboration with Stanford University in 2015 so I think they have a little bit of a head start on Goog….make that everyone.

 

[Baretta]

How cheap from Google to compete with  and Meta struggling to copy their Glass project

 

[doolar]

If that’s how Google manages their “tightly kept secret”, I wonder about their integrity. 300 persons that can’t keep mum? ??

 

[Shanghaichica]

Apple first started working on VR in collaboration with Stanford University in 2015 so I think they have a little bit of a head start on Goog….make that everyone.

Google glass came out in 2013...

 

[orbital~debris]

I would say "better late than never"… but this is Google, so "better never than creepy".

 

[Danfango]

They already covered Google’s version of this in Futurama:

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Google glass came out in 2013...

Huh?….what’s that contraption have to do with VR?

 

[genovelle]

Huh?….what’s that contraption have to do with VR?

A camera cylinder attached to a pair of glasses?

 

[Corsig]

Will it be made from cardboard?

 

[citysnaps]

Huh?….what’s that contraption have to do with VR?

And certainly nothing to do with AR.

 

[8KYUP]

Meanwhile, Meta just launched Build 37 for their already existing headsets, which is another big step forward. Visual clarity has improved a lot, Multitasking resize of multiple windows improved and is really strong now, There is now passthrough guardian which is awesome, Better hand control (no controllers). We have been seeing large build improvements a few times a month. Big stuff.

It is actually shocking what they are pulling from this $299.00 headset now.

I am very excited to see what they bring with higher end hardware this year when the release Cambria.

I do think Apple will introduce an amazing product for this space, and I will be first in line.

The whole industry has a fairly high bar right now, though, and they know it. They have to exceed a very inexpensive and excellent existing product which is being rapidly advanced with the help of a large and active user base. Cambria (announced and due shortly) will be a big step up in hardware and capability.

We are in for a cool time!

 

[ian87w]

LOL, everybody in silicon valley is drinking the cool-aid.
Microsoft had years of head start with holo lens, and they still cannot figure out what to do with it. They even gave up on Kinect on the Xbox.

Google, sort out your messaging apps/RCS first.

 

[citysnaps]

I do think Apple will introduce an amazing product for this space, and I will be first in line.

Me too.

Whatever it is (and I'm betting on it being closer to a pair of glasses, rather than strapped goggles), it will leverage tech Apple has already developed and use processing horsepower of A-series chips for computation in an iPhone, mature display and true-depth camera tech in the device, and a special UWB mode as a proprietary datalink to pass video between device and iPhone.

ARKit, designed for A-series processors has been around close to five years. I suspect Apple and trusted developers, and collaborating with Stanford's VR/AR lab, will have very interesting and useful apps available on launch date.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Rumors of "coming next year" for AR/VR products will now have Google in the mix. Just what I need for the next decade or two before a useful product is released.

 

[boss.king]

Huh?….what’s that contraption have to do with VR?

Daydream came out in 2016 too. Google’s been doing this for a while.

 

[Jason2000]

"Google's past attempts at augmented and virtual reality include Google Glass, Google Cardboard, and Daydream, but none ever went mainstream."

Never went mainstream because nobody trust Google to stick with anything they do. Who wants to invest in something that Google will decide next week they are done with. Same as with their services (messaging mess). Google may be a little more exciting at times but they are not consistent and are very quick to lose interest in something. Google is not reliable.

 

[RickDEGH]

Where is Apple’s product by the way? There’s nothing to compete with, when there’s nothing to be compared with. All I read is, Apple rumor this, Apple rumor that! Do they have any AR/VR product out yet, apart from iPhones and iPads with AR built in? Of course I don’t dispute their AR platform.

 

[filmantopia]

Where is Apple’s product by the way? There’s nothing to compete with, when there’s nothing to be compared with. All I read is, Apple rumor this, Apple rumor that! Do they have any AR/VR product out yet, apart from iPhones and iPads with AR built in? Of course I don’t dispute their AR platform.

Apple has been working the hell out of their AR platform, both software and hardware. They’re the only company that has the wherewithal to take an idea as big and abstract as this and figure out how to make it into an appealing, exciting and useful lifestyle product rather than some niche tech toy/tool.

So when it finally appears, Google will definitely have their photocopiers ready to go. But something tells me it’s going to take them more than another year for them to reproduce whatever Apple has done.

 

[8KYUP]

Apple has been working the hell out of their AR platform, both software and hardware. They’re the only company that has the wherewithal to take an idea as big and abstract as this and figure out how to make it into an appealing, exciting and useful lifestyle product rather than some niche tech toy/tool.

So when it finally appears, Google will definitely have their photocopiers ready to go. But something tells me it’s going to take them more than another year for them to reproduce whatever Apple has done.

It is an odd view to think of Google copying Apple when they would both be entering a mature space where a huge chunk of what they will potentially introduce will have already existed for years.

Of course, Meta and others are currently running Android so there is that.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Cue the fanboys moaning on about Google copying when they did it first with the glasses!!!
Scottie

I guess a second try is ok - first failed miserably and far TOO much hype and $$ poured into it. Pour Segei.