Google Halts Production For Glasses That Translate Languages In Real-Time

The augmented and virtual reality wave from a few years ago spurred many tech companies to develop eyewear to meld the physical and digital worlds together. But as the race has since slowed down and the focus now shifts to artificial intelligence, a rush to get AR devices to market has also decelerated.
 
In Google’s case, it is shuttering the production of its ‘Project Iris’ glasses, on the heels of a new set of layoffs from the company. On top of that, the firm’s head of AR and VR, Clay Bavor, has also left Google.
 
Iris was first announced during the Google I/O event last year; its primary goal was to translate different languages in real-time and aid in navigation. Testing for the device was meant to commence in July of this year to gear up for a release sometime early next year so that it could go up against Apple’s Vision Pro.

 
However, that may not be the case anymore as the company shifts away from developing the hardware instead of focusing on software. In particular, the ‘micro XR’. This is set to be a platform that can be licensed out to various headset manufacturers.
 
According to Mint, Google hinted at working with Samsung, and Qualcomm on a mixed-reality platform earlier this year. However, details remain scarce.

 
 
 
[via ExtremeTech and Mint, screenshot via Google]