Google has entered into a strategic partnership in technology with the emerging augmented reality company Magic Leap, aiming to develop immersive experiences that blend the physical and digital worlds.
Magic Leap announced the agreement through a blog post, with a Google spokesperson confirming the validity of this partnership. Despite the limited available details, this announcement suggests that Google may re-enter the augmented and virtual reality technologies market to compete with companies like Meta and Apple.
Magic Leap explained that the partnership combines its expertise in optics and hardware manufacturing with Google’s technology platforms. Magic Leap stated: “We have different versions of augmented reality devices so far, and Google has a long history in platform development. By merging these experiences, there are many things we can achieve.”
It is worth mentioning that Google has invested in Magic Leap, which is majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Both Google and Magic Leap have declined to disclose whether this partnership will lead to a new consumer device or not. Additionally, Google has been collaborating with Samsung since the beginning of last year to develop mixed reality technologies.
At its annual developer conference, Google unveiled the artificial intelligence assistant project known as Project Astra, where a person wore experimental glasses and asked questions to the assistant about what they see. The AI assistant provided answers vocally and textually through the lenses, a feature similar to what Meta has planned for its smart glasses that gained an AI assistant last year.
In April, Meta’s glasses received an update that allows the AI assistant to recognize objects the user sees through voice. If Google re-enters the augmented reality glasses industry, it will be another significant development in its relationship with this technology.
Google led what was seen as a revolution in augmented reality over ten years ago when it launched its Google Glass smart glasses. However, it withdrew from the consumer market in 2015 and later also abandoned the enterprise market.
