Google unveiled the next phase of its Android XR platform at the Android Show: XR Edition, confirming new upgrades for the Samsung Galaxy XR headset. The update introduces three key features—PC Connect, Likeness, and Travel Mode—while also providing a first glimpse at upcoming AI glasses and wired XR devices from partner companies expected next year.
New Features for Samsung Galaxy XR
- PC Connect: This feature allows users to link their Windows PC directly to the Galaxy XR headset. Users can pull a single app window or their entire desktop into the virtual environment, placing it alongside native Google Play apps. This enables seamless multitasking and a large-screen experience for PC gaming inside the headset.
- Likeness: Likeness creates a realistic digital avatar of the user’s face that reacts dynamically to facial expressions and hand gestures during video calls. In apps like Google Meet, users can choose between stylized Galaxy Avatars or more natural, human-like avatars for immersive communication.
- Travel Mode: Travel Mode delivers a stable, immersive viewing or working experience while on the move. It lets users watch movies on a large virtual screen or browse documents with a steady visual field, without motion disturbances. Additionally, the Galaxy XR Travel Case offers portability and protection for users who travel frequently.
Expanding Android XR Hardware
Google emphasized that future XR devices will come in varied designs, weights, and levels of immersion to better suit different user preferences rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach.
- AI Glasses: In collaboration with partners like Samsung, Gentle Monster, and Warby Parker, Google is developing lightweight AI glasses intended for all-day wear. Two versions are in progress:
- Screen-free AI glasses equipped with speakers, microphones, and cameras for natural interaction with Google’s Gemini AI, enabling hands-free assistance and photo capture.
- Display AI glasses integrating in-lens displays to show contextual information such as translation captions and navigation prompts.
These AI glasses are expected to launch next year.
- Wired XR Glasses: Google previewed Project Aura by XREAL, featuring a 70-degree field of view and optical see-through technology that merges the real world with virtual overlays. This allows users to view multiple floating windows within their physical environment for work or entertainment purposes. More details on Project Aura will be revealed next year.
Developer Updates
Google also announced Developer Preview 3 of the Android XR SDK, officially opening development for AI glasses. The updated SDK provides new tools and APIs to enable more spatial and immersive app experiences for both headsets and wired XR devices.
Availability
- PC Connect and Likeness are rolling out today in beta.
- Travel Mode and other Android XR enhancements started rolling out from December 8 in the US and Korea.
These upgrades aim to make Samsung Galaxy XR more versatile and user-friendly, while broadening the Android XR ecosystem with innovative new hardware and developer tools.