Google's alleged AR glasses, codenamed Project Iris, were reportedly canceled by the company which has given up on its efforts to develop the supposedly new wearable. Instead of focusing its efforts on the hardware, there are claims now that the company is focusing on AR software meant for the Android mobile operating system.
After debuting two Google Glass in the market, the tech company decided to pull the plug on the project on its supposedly third time in its debut.
Google Project Iris is Now Canceled, No More AR Glasses
Ars Technica reported that Google already gave up on Project Iris and its focus on AR glasses, scrapping its development, and is unknown if it would ever get back on board. The Project Iris was regarded to be the next-generation Google Glass and was best known for its previous developments of the wearable.
This comes alongside the March cancelation and discontinuation of the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 developments. With the company also ending support for the device and its further use by September this year.
Insiders who are familiar with Google's AR developments claimed that the company is now discontinuing its development of the tech, and has done so earlier this year.
Last Galaxy Unpacked 2023, it was announced that Google is on the path to developing mixed-reality glasses alongside Samsung and Qualcomm, but there was no news of cancelations regarding this project.
AR Software for Android is the Priority Over Hardware
Despite Google shutting down Project Iris' developments, the AR race is still not yet over for the Mountain View company.
It was said that instead of focusing on its efforts for AR hardware, the company is looking to develop software for augmented reality.
More specifically, this would be the AR for Android venture that would help expand more of the mobile experience with the tech.
Google's AR Developments
It would be seen on Google's track record that it did not exactly fare well with its AR glasses developments over the years, and one of the most significant failures is with its Google Glass 1. While there was massive hype when it first came, the excitement died down when the device was unveiled and began to sell.
Still, Google's AR developments continued with the arrival of the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, initially selling for $999 back in 2019.
AR was massive on Google's announcements, including the "Magic Window" device dubbed as Project Starline that shows a realistic feed of the other end of the call for users, meant for virtual communications.
The AR industry is expected to grow because of the many developments now, but Google is taking a step back from these, as per recent reports. Still, it is not out of the game, especially with its latest efforts that will allegedly focus on AR software that it will use for Android, expanding more of the mobile experience with the virtual tech.
