Samsung has officially confirmed that it is collaborating with Google to develop augmented reality (AR) glasses, putting an end to months of speculation. Ahead of its Samsung Unpacked event, the company told Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that both tech giants will work as “one team” to create a new wearable AR device, joining the likes of Apple and Meta in the race to bring AR technology to mainstream consumers.
While Meta and Apple have been working on their own AR projects, neither company has yet delivered a practical and affordable pair of AR glasses. Meta’s Orion prototype, for instance, reportedly costs $10,000 per unit to produce, making it far from a consumer-ready product. Samsung and Google’s partnership, however, is expected to leverage the Android ecosystem to create a more accessible solution. At the heart of this effort is Android XR, an extended reality operating system that could unify various AR devices and ensure seamless compatibility across different hardware.
Samsung has already established itself in the wearables market with the launch of the Galaxy Ring last year, and this expansion into AR seems like a natural next step. However, the timeline for these smart glasses remains unclear. Samsung’s TM Roh, President of Mobile Experience, stated that the company will “reach the quality and readiness we want as soon as possible”, but without a confirmed prototype, it’s difficult to predict when the product will be available.
Beyond AR, Samsung and Google’s partnership extends into AI. Samsung showcased Google’s Gemini AI across its Galaxy S25 series, enhancing multimodal AI capabilities and improving integration within its broader ecosystem. This suggests that AI and AR will increasingly converge, shaping the future of wearable technology.
Challenges Ahead for Samsung and Google
While Samsung and Google’s partnership is a major step forward, AR development still faces significant hurdles, including:
- Production Costs: Making AR glasses affordable remains a key challenge.
- Hardware Miniaturization: Ensuring the glasses remain lightweight and wearable is a major engineering feat.
- Processing Power: Meta, for instance, has resorted to using an external processing unit (“puck”) to handle computational tasks.
For now, details on Samsung and Google’s AR glasses remain limited, but further updates are expected in the coming months. If successful, this collaboration could finally bring practical and affordable AR wearables to the mainstream, reshaping how people interact with technology in their daily lives.