In a series of video demos, Google showed off how people wearing Android XR glasses might interact with apps such as Google Maps. A user asked their glasses’ Gemini AI chatbot for directions, and the device brought up a small hologram-like map at the bottom of the internal display.

Android XR is still in the early stages, but I got to try a prototype pair at Google I/O. The hardware looks promising, and it should benefit from changing attitudes about smart glasses.

After trying out a prototype of Google's smart glasses built on Android XR, I'm convinced that the Gemini assistant will make or break this product.