Using AR for the good, like Google

Augmented Reality (AR) is here and it’s here to stay. And why wouldn’t we welcome AR with open arms if it can help our daily lives a lot, right? This week Google showed us how to use the ever evolving world of technology for the good, by teasing a prototype of AR glasses (don’t worry, it’s not a revamp of Google Glass) that can translate conversations for you in real time.

Google teased the prototype during their I/O 2022 event. With the now famous words ‘one last thing’ Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced the glasses. Google wants to break language barriers by translating and transcribing conversations in real-time. Want to have a chat with your neighbor but you don’t speak the same language? No problem! With the glasses you can see what they say, when they say it, right in front of you. The words appear within your field of view, so you won’t have to look away from your conversation. This way technology doesn’t create a ‘wall’ between people, but actually brings us closer together.

When Google talks about breaking language barriers, they mean all language barriers. In their video they show how the glasses could be of great help to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. For example, if they’re speaking with someone who doesn’t know sign language, they can still read what they’re saying as the conversation is translated and transcribed in real-time. On social media people are already speculating if translating actual sign language will be a feature of the glasses in the future. We hope so!

In the keynote Pichai elaborates on AR in the real world, and emphasizes on how important it is that technology doesn’t get in the way of things we love. ‘It’s important we design in a way that is built for the real world — and doesn’t take you away from it. AR gives us new ways to accomplish this. (…) That potential is what gets us most excited about AR: the ability to spend time focusing on what matters in the real world, in our real lives. Because the real world is pretty amazing!’

If and when the glasses are coming out is still a mystery, but we can’t wait to see them in real life!