Google has reportedly ditched its AR glasses

It’s being reported that Google has ditched its plans to release another set of augment reality (AR) glasses.

Business Insider claims that Google has killed off its planned return to the AR glasses market, which was being referred to as Iris.

The company had apparently been working on Iris for years, but has now made the decision to pull the plug on releasing a new set of AR glasses. Instead, the company is said to be concentrating on building AR software platforms for third party manufacturers.

In other words, it’s looking to create another Android or Wear OS, but for augmented reality headsets. It’s already said to be building an Android XR platform for a set of Samsung AR goggles, which are reportedly a response to Apple’s Vision Pro, and is now said to be working on a more lightweight micro XR platform for AR glasses.

Dare we hope for a Pixel AR somewhere down the line? The report doesn’t say, but it does a Google that came to the decision to can Iris after a large spate of layoffs in January, as well as the departure of the company’s AR head, Clay Bavor.

The Iris had been described as a series of AR devices that resembled regular reading glasses, rather than the more extensive ski goggle approach taken by Apple with its recently announced Vision Pro headset.

You could argue that Google kicked off this whole consumer AR headset thing with the launch of the Google Glass prototype way back in 2013. Yes, you really are that old.

However, the company ultimately pulled its prototype and retreated from the AR game in 2015 amidst privacy concerns. It never claimed to be completely out of the game, however, and recent rumours pointed to a return to the AR field with a new set of glasses, codenamed Iris.

Google acquired AR startup North back in 2020, and initial versions of the Iris headset (including the translating glasses it previewed at Google I/O last year) looked a lot like that company’s Focals AR glasses.