Google is bringing Android to VR headsets and smart glasses… again. The company has introduced a new Android-based operating system called Android XR, released a preview SDK, announced a partnership with Samsung on a headset set to launch in 2025, and announced plans to "begin real-world testing of prototype glasses running Android XR with a small group of users" soon.

If all of this sounds familiar, that's because Google's played in these (virtual) spaces before. Android XR isn't the first augmented or virtual reality platform from Google. But the company is betting that the technology has caught up with its vision for these platforms… and that its Gemini AI could be the killer app that previous attempts like Google Glass and Daydream lacked.

You can't actually go out and buy a device running Android XR yet, but a number of tech journalists got a chance to go heads-on with an early prototype, including the folks at CNET, Wired, 9to5Google, and The Verge.

The smart glasses Google is demonstrating are said to look and feel like a slightly chunky set of eyeglasses, similar to the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses available today. But Google's prototype includes a small display that overlays graphics on your real-world environment to give you real-time translated subtitles when someone is speaking a language you may not know, navigation directions, and provide information about the world around you.

Samsung's upcoming Android XR headset (code named Project Moohan)

On VR headsets like Samsung's upcoming Project Moohan, you'll be able to "switch between being fully immersed in a virtual environment and staying present in the real world," which suggests that there'll be cameras for a pass-through mode and/or for a mix of virtual and real-world content on your display.

But there will also be support for running Android apps in a more immersive mode, with new versions of apps including YouTube, Google TV, Google Photos, and Google Maps that are designed specifically for Android XR.

Since Android XR is built on Android, there will also be support for a huge library of existing Android apps on day one: Google says "mobile and tablet apps from Google Play will work right out of the box."

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