Google will test AR glasses outside in the public this fall
(Pocket-lint) – Google has announced it will test augmented reality (AR) prototypes in public starting in September – partially because it wants to see how they work in the real world and impact people and also because it needs to better understand how its AR navigation features will handle the weather. The company announced Tuesday working on concepts such as AR glasses that show real-time translations, but it needs to test the prototypes outside. “This will allow us to better understand how these devices can help people in their everyday lives”, wrote Google in a blog. “And as we develop experiences like AR navigation, it will help us take factors such as weather and busy intersections into account – which can be difficult, sometimes impossible, to fully recreate indoors”.
On a support page, Google revealed it will trial a “small number” of prototypes in select parts of the US this autumn. Testers of Google’s AR prototypes will undergo “device, protocol, privacy, and safety training” and will face “strict limitations” on where they can operate. The activities they can do while using the prototypes will also be restricted.
The AR prototypes are meant to look like typical glasses, but they have an in-lens display and “visual and audio sensors” such as a mic, camera, and an LED indicator. Despite the LED, Google noted its prototypes currently don’t support photography or videography. But it is actively developing features like speech transcription and translation, text translation, and navigation.
Keep in mind Google reportedly hopes to begin shipping an AR headset dubbed Project Iris in two years.
Writing by Maggie Tillman.
