After Google Glass bombed, it appeared but the Mountain View-company was done with smart glasses, but it's becoming quite clear that Google is ready to take another stab at the AR wearables category.
Already, Google announced its new Android XR platform that will support headsets like one coming from Samsung in 2025 as well as glasses. And that news came in the wake of Android announcing a wave of AI updates including Gemini 2.0 and an upgraded Project Astra that teased how the universal AI agent would work on smart glasses.
Google appears to be partnering with manufacturers to get Android XR on as many devices as possible including future offerings from Sony, Xreal and Lynx, to name a few. However, several patents were recently discovered by Patently Apple that covers an array of smart glasses applications, hinting at the return of Google-made glasses.
The most significant of the discovered patents involves filings describing how Google could build smart glasses that support prescription lenses and how those lenses could be put in the frames at an eyeglasses store or via the manufacturer.
For the most part, smart glasses and AR glasses are not solid or even capable of replacing prescription glasses. Usually, lens are ground at the glasses store where optometrists can put in the correct prescription for near-sighted wearers, as an example.
As Patently Apple notes, "in many cases the eyewear display design considerations include maintaining ingress protection (IP) sealing, preserving optical alignment, protecting fragile components, and ensuring that the Rx lens stays in place during drop or high-acceleration events."
One of the technical drawings from the patents, appears to show a lens rim with two layers — one with the a placeholder lens that would be where information is displayed and the second with the Rx prescription. Such a design would let glasses owners swap in the correct prescription for their eyes.
There are multiple versions of this that Patently Apple breaks down, from protective liners "embodiments" to others where the lenses are stacked with the perscription lens being removable.
the report didn't mention patent numbers for these patents, making it hard to confirm where these patents were filed or awarded.
Meanwhile, a minor patent filed in Europe (#WO2024248853) concerned putting some kind of port on one of the arms of the glasses.
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