Samsung has been working on some form of mixed-reality platform since at least February of 2023, when the Korean company announced a partnership with tech giants Google and Qualcomm.
The trio of companies presumably were working on a mixed-reality headset that would rival the Apple Vision Pro. Google announced a special version of the Android operating system for AR, VR and XR interfaces.
"Now we believe that we have reached a certain threshold," Samsung CEO TM Roh said in 2023. He explained that Google, Samsung and Qualcomm will play similar roles in this partnership as they do when building phones together, supplying chips and software to power Samsung's hardware.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon said that the partnership is exploring a set of mixed-reality smart glasses that would link to a smartphone instead of a headset. It's a much different approach than the rumored headset.
“It’s going to be a new product, it’s going to be new experiences,”
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon
Amon said, "But what I really expect to come out of this partnership, I want everyone that has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it."
In the interview, Amon referred to Meta's Ray-ban smart glasses that link to a smartphone and feature a built-in camera.
For Qualcomm's part, they've built a new chip called the Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1, which is specifically designed for smart glasses. Amon also claimed that AI will run on whatever smart glasses the trio produces.
News has been relatively sparse since the initial announcement. Fast forward to Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked this summer, where Google's Rick Osterloh appeared on stage at the end of the event with Roh and confirmed that "a new XR platform is coming later this year."
Only a few days after that event, a new rumor claimed that the potential headset wouldn't launch until 2025.
During Google I/O 2024, the Mountain View company created excitement when they teased AI-powered smart glasses alongside their on-demand AI assistant, Project Astra.
In a video released by Google, the glasses utilized Google Gemini to answer prompts and can be seen working on a smartphone before switching to the glasses.
Google hasn't commented on the glasses since or provided details on whether or not the glasses they showed off are a part of the partnership with Qualcomm and Samsung.
However, a former Google XR/AR device developer told our sister site, Laptop Mag, that "Google has no real vision or ambition in driving the XR space." They added that the company wants to work with others on smart glasses projects.
What's Meta doing?
The triumvirate's biggest competition won't be Apple but Meta. So, what is Meta up to in the smart glasses realm?
Allegedly, Meta has a third-generation of Ray-Ban smart glasses in the works. The company is also producing the long-rumored Orion AR glasses, which are reportedly a significant upgrade over the Ray-Ban glasses.
Earlier this year, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth described the Meta Orion AR glasses as "the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its domain."
The Orion glasses might debut later this month during the Meta Connect event, where the firm will unveil all its latest VR projects and AI models.
