Android XR has been squarely out of the limelight since Google announced it back in December alongside Samsung’s ‘Project Moohan’ mixed reality headset. There aren’t any firm release dates for either, although both are expected to launch publicly sometime later this year.
While the company has confirmed a number of Android XR features, including the much-awaited support for passthrough camera access, and has also released developer access to its Android XR SDK, we’re still waiting to see how it will stack up against more mature XR ecosystems, like Meta’s Horizon OS and Apple’s visionOS.
Android XR is moving towards public launch later this year, and Google is prepping a new XR toolchain before it does, which will bundle Jetpack SceneCore and ARCore into its XR-specific version of Jetpack. Jetpack XR, which is now in developer preview, lets mobile or large screen Android app devs create spatialized layouts with the help of 3D models and immersive environments. Notably, the inclusion of ARCore with Jetpack XR suggests Google is consolidating its spatial computing tools, giving devs a unified way to build both AR and VR experiences.
So they abandoned the VR platform they used for Google Cardboard in 2014, disbanded, reformed, and now are creating a new platform not based on the old platform, but aren’t planning on talking about it?
Hopefully they already have their Google Graveyard plot picked out. We can get started on the headstone.
I wouldn’t frame it around cardboard. That was a side thing for every day phones. And just a tease. Not a full experience. Terrible optics. Etc. So many things about Cardboard make it just a gimmick/novelty toy.
What you are looking to refrence is their Daydream platform that was a proper HMD platform. And yes, they bailed on it, only to rush back into the game when Apple got close to releasing the Vision Pro.
They have owned a VR game studio that is putting out games across platforms this whole time tho. Owlcemy Labs.
Yes! Daydream. I thought it was the same project/ tech that underlied Cardboard. I stand corrected.
I am sure this will be abandoned as well.
It would be insane for google not to get into XR now. If it dies again in the future i would be surprised. We are nowhere near what the hardware and software looked like when they killed the other projects. The only issue i see is that i can’t really find projects being worked on for android XR or tutorials on how to develop for it. I know virtual desktop is ready for use wich is most of what i need but i would like to see more.