Google: 'Unstable Commitment' to XR OS Development, Senior Director Quits—Will AR Still Continue?

A Google executive recently left his post over at the company, and this was Senior Director of Engineering, Marc Lucovsky, after citing the instability of the future of AR within the internet company. In recent times, there was various news regarding Google's cancelation of its AR devices, including the so-called 'Project Iris' that was speculated before.

This recent departure from Google is a significant statement where Lucovsky shows that he no longer takes less for the AR development of the company, even for its new focus on its operating system.

Google's Senior Director Quits, Cites Google's Instability to AR

Marc Lucovsky announced via a tweet that he is leaving Google's AR division where the executive served as the Senior Director of Engineering, where he was also responsible for OS and software platform for AR and XR devices.

This massive decision said a lot about Google's focus on AR, with the executive also citing the reason for his departure.

As per Lucovsky, "The recent changes in AR leadership and Google's unstable commitment and vision have weighed heavily on my decision."

The executive's decision mainly revolved around Google's instability in its AR division, and it seems to have heavily affected work and his role in the company.

Google's XR OS Development Focus Instead of Hardware

According to 9to5 Google, there was also an earlier departure from a former Google executive, Clay Bavor, and it is presumably related to this recent loss.

Google's focus now is renowned, as it seemingly gave up on its augmented reality device developments within the company and is focusing its efforts to create operating systems that would suit other manufacturers that will partner with them.

Google's AR and Its Dedicated Devices

Earlier this year, Google discontinued the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, and this was also known as the 2nd generation of its AR wearable available to all. The company decided to pull the plug on the AR glasses, and not only will they be no longer available in the market, but to also no longer see support from the company for its software later in the year.

However, in the most recent news from late June, there were speculations regarding Google killing off Project Iris despite the world not yet seeing or hearing anything about it.

This decision was allegedly because Google is no longer joining the competition in the hardware devices, but would focus on developing its software for future use.

In these recent developments, there seems to be an unclear future for Google's AR division, amidst the recent cancellations and drop in support for its existing devices. Not only that, Google lost a valuable asset that led the company's developments for years, and this was because there was an unstable commitment to its AR projects and many leadership changes.