Google’s Android XR glasses challenge Meta with stronger privacy safeguards

Google is preparing Android XR smart glasses made by Samsung in partnership with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, positioning them as a rival to Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses. Demonstrations of live translation impressed, but the article’s central point is Google’s stronger approach to privacy, which could help address public concerns about cameras and microphones in wearable devices.

The glasses can translate several languages without users selecting language pairs, and the demonstrated camera has a 12-megapixel sensor. Google says faces will be redacted before images reach its servers, while bystander conversations will be removed from audio; camera and microphone use will require opt-in permission. The company also says it will not target ads using the data, train Gemini on it or let people use it to improve its models, and the glasses will block facial identification.