Meta Meta may be the loudest company building hardware. Microsoft has a headset. Apple is also working on something. Don't count on it.
Two people familiar with the project who requested anonymity to speak without the company's permission said that the search giant has recently begun ramping up work on an augmented reality headset that it hopes to ship in 2024. Like upcoming headsets from Meta and Apple, the device uses outward-facing cameras to blend computer graphics with a video feed of the real world, creating a more immersive, mixed reality experience. A pair of ski goggles that don't require a tethered connection to an external power source are being developed at a facility in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The target year of 2024 may be more realistic than previously thought because of the lack of a clearly defined go-to-market strategy for the headset. The hardware is powered by a custom Google processor, similar to the one used in the newest iteration of the phone, and runs on the same operating system as the one used in the phone. Given the power constraints, the strategy is to use its data centers to remotely render some graphics and send them into the headset via internet connection. I am told that the headset will be branded by the Pixel team, but it is not clear if that will be the case. Thanks to the early blowback and the fact that it technically still exists as an enterprise product, the name of the product is almost certainly off the table.
There is a secret project inside the company.
Project iris is a return to a hardware category that has a checkered history with the company. It began with the ill-fated debut of Glass. There was a multi-year effort to sell headsets. Since then, it has been noticeably silent about its hardware ambitions in the space, instead focusing on its software features. Mark Zuckerberg has bet on augmented and virtual reality, hiring thousands and changing his company's name to Meta. It has become a cliché. Apple is working on a mixed reality headset.
A building that requires special keycard access and non-disclosure agreements is where Project iris is located. The core team working on the headset is 300 people, and the company plans to hire hundreds more. Clay Bavor is the executive who is in charge of the effort and he is also in charge of Project Starline, an ultra-high-resolution video chat booth that was demoed last year.
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The project is called Project Starline.
Project iris could be a technical marvel if Starline is any indication. Starline is one of the most impressive tech demos ever, according to people who have tried it. It can recreate who you are chatting with in 3D. In a test with employees, it was found that people focused 15 percent more on who they were talking to using Starline than a traditional video call, and that memory recall was 30 percent better when asked about the details of conversations.
The Starline will be shipped by the year 2024.
I have heard that Starline is going to be shipped by 2024. Paul Greco, Magic Leap's CTO, joined the team in a previously unreported move. Various Fortune 500 companies are working on a pilot program for using Starline to facilitate remote meetings. Starline is part of the post-pandemic hybrid work strategy. Starline wants to bring the cost of each unit down from tens of thousands of dollars. There is a chance that Starline won't meet its target ship year.
Bavor has been in charge of the virtual reality and augmented reality efforts for years, dating back to the time when the Cardboard and Daydream platforms came out. He is a close friend of Pichai. He was given the title of VP of Labs in November of last year. At the time of his promotion, employees were told that the Labs team was focused on extrapolating technology trends and incubating a set of high-potential, long-term projects.
Some of the other leaders are working on Project Iris.
Shahram Izadi is a senior director of engineering at the company.
Eddie Chung is a senior director of product management.
Scott was the creator of the Google Assistant.
A distinguished engineer and the former CTO of the light-field camera startup, Kurt Akeley.
Mark Lucovsky is a senior director of operating systems for augmented reality at Google.
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The first pair of smart glasses in North were called Focals. The second version of the company was bought by Google.
The image is of North.
Glass and its early investment in Magic Leap are some of the reasons why Google is interested in augmented reality. The Magic Leap investment was to have optionality to buy the company down the road if it found a viable path to mass-market augmented reality hardware. Bavor characterized the phase we are in as deep R&D, focused on building the critical Lego bricks behind closed doors. A year later, North, a smart glasses startup, was bought by the search giant.
The majority of the North team still work for the company. There are a lot of job postings related to waveguides, a display technology more suited for augmented reality glasses rather than an immersing headset, suggesting they could be working on another device in Canada. This story was not commented on by Google.
On an earnings call in October, Pichai said that augmented reality will be a major area of investment for the company. The company has a lot of cash. It has top technical talent, a robust software platform, and compelling products for augmented reality. Meta is spending $10 billion per year on augmented and virtual reality. Thousands of people are working on Apple's headset and glasses. Until it says otherwise, it looks like they are playing catchup.
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