At Google I/O 2025, the company announced collaborations with two major fashion eyewear brands, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, to launch a new Android XR smart glasses. In the face of pressure from Meta and Apple, which are leading the way in this sector, Google is attempting to penetrate the wearable device market through a strategy that integrates fashion design with technology.
Design First: From Google Glass to “Quiet Luxury” Smart Glasses
The once-controversial Google Glass, which sparked discussions in 2013 due to its avant-garde design and high price, failed to gain popularity. However, the successful sales of smart glasses launched by Meta in collaboration with Ray-Ban indicate that “users crave smart devices that seamlessly integrate into their daily lives, without being obtrusive.”
Ray-Ban META Smart Glasses promotional image
Google’s choice to partner with the distinctive Korean brand Gentle Monster and the affordable design representative Warby Parker to create the “Android XR” aligns with the trend of “quiet luxury,” emphasizing that technology should exist discreetly and elegantly, as an extension of life rather than a conspicuous display.
Launching Android XR: Targeting a Comprehensive Smart Visual Experience
The new Android XR platform supports four types of device forms: including a visual perspective head-mounted display similar to Samsung’s “Project Moohan,” Xreal’s optical perspective head-mounted display “Project Aura,” a prototype AR glasses demonstration by Google itself, and lightweight AI smart glasses that compete with Ray-Ban Meta.
Key features include:
– Integration of Gemini AI Assistant: Providing real-time translation, navigation, and photography through voice, gestures, and eye tracking to enhance the augmented reality experience.
– Support for Multiple Interaction Methods: Including hand and eye tracking, voice commands, and Bluetooth devices, allowing users to interact with applications more swiftly.
– Spatial Application Experience: Breaking the limitations of traditional screens through 3D elements, spatial panels, and audio, offering an immersive user experience.
– Deep Integration with the Google Ecosystem: Built-in applications such as Google Maps, Google Photos, and Chrome, providing familiar and powerful functionality support.
In the future, XR devices will offer immersive experiences and real-time information assistance, becoming an intelligent layer within users’ sight rather than a disruptive interference in their lives.
Brand Strategy Showdown: Google, Apple, and Meta Each Make Their Move
Google’s choice of Gentle Monster and Warby Parker is undoubtedly a response to Meta and the alliance with the world’s largest eyewear manufacturer, Luxottica:
Meta is developing the “Supernova 2” smart glasses targeting the sports demographic; Apple continues its collaboration with the French luxury brand Hermès to develop wearable devices that combine aesthetics with technology.
Recently, it has been reported that Apple is creating an independent chip for smart glasses, focusing on low power consumption and multi-camera support, indicating that its strategy is not limited to design but also entails in-depth technical planning.
Fashion Collaborations Not a First: Gentle Monster Returns to Smart Glasses
For Gentle Monster, which has captured the hearts of younger generations, this is not its first collaboration with a tech company. Back in 2020, it partnered with Huawei to launch the “Eyewear 2” audio smart glasses, which, while focusing on auditory rather than visual capabilities, still demonstrates the brand’s long-standing interest in the potential for technology-integrated design.
HUAWEI X Gentle Monster Eyewear II structure
Google’s collaboration this time is expected to combine its design aesthetics with its augmented reality capabilities, once again challenging the market acceptance of smart wearable devices.
The Next Step for Smart Glasses: “Invisible Technology”
As technology and design merge and costs gradually decrease, wearable products may naturally integrate into daily life and fashion in the future, leading smart glasses to truly enter the mainstream market. Through its collaboration with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, Google not only fills the gap left by Google Glass in terms of public acceptance but also demonstrates to the industry the core competitiveness of future wearable devices: “not a pile-up of functions, but a daily integration based on design.”
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