Earlier in 2022, Google executives had grown alarmed by reports on Apple's progress on the Vision Pro, which surpassed their own. The company struck a partnership with Android collaborator Samsung, in which they would develop the software for an MR headset manufactured by Samsung, codenamed Project Moohan. Tensions soon arose between the two companies, with Samsung consolidating its control over the project to prevent Google from building a rival product. "Moohan" is a reference to the Korean word for infinity. Google also acquired Raxium, an AR hardware startup, for approximately $1 billion in March 2022, which was completed a month later.
After Iris' cancellation, Google shifted its focus from hardware to software, which they hoped to license to third-party Android manufacturers. Lucovsky left the company and Shahram Izadi assumed leadership of Google's AR division, reporting to Google senior vice president Hiroshi Lockheimer. A new team under Izadi began incorporating Iris' code into a new project codenamed Betty, intended to be part of a "Micro XR" platform that would be pitched to manufacturers. The former Raxium team continued to explore potential AR hardware projects under Greco's supervision, but was reportedly "firewalled" from the Moohan and Betty crews. A Google employee described the situation as "a weird bureaucratic mess".
Google announced the Android XR operating system on December 12, 2024, in New York City, with plans to launch it on Samsung's Moohan headset the following year. Viewed as the successor to Glass, Cardboard, and Daydream, the operating system was developed in collaboration with Samsung and Qualcomm and is heavily integrated with Gemini, Google's generative AI–powered chatbot. In addition to Moohan, Google unveiled the Project Astra smartglasses it had previously demoed, also powered by Android XR and aiming for a 2025 release, though no definite timeline was set for the latter. The glasses employ Raxium's microLED technology, allowing for "bright images without using a lot of power".
Contrasting Android XR with the Vision Pro, Izadi and Android chief Sameer Samat emphasized the open-platform nature of Google's approach, as opposed to Apple's walled garden strategy. Victoria Song of The Verge compared the experience of wearing these glasses to J.A.R.V.I.S., a fictional AI in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac and Mark Gurman of Bloomberg News noted Moohan's visual resemblance to the Vision Pro. Several journalists who attended the announcement reflected on Google's decade-long journey from Glass to the present day.
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