Android boss reveals the unsurprising reason Google Glass ended up in the tech graveyard

At I/O 2026, Google gave us a preview of how its upcoming Android XR glasses could make our lives easier. For anyone who’s followed Google’s announcement for slightly more than a decade, the announcement may have summoned a sense of nostalgia. That’s because Google first previewed its smart glass solution at I/O 13 years ago. Even if you don’t remember, Android’s chief does, and they’re grateful for what it taught them.

Sameer Samat, president of the Android ecosystem at Google, recently spoke to members of the media, including Korea’s Yonhap News, after the Google I/O 2026 conference yesterday. While discussing the new Android XR devices Google showcased at the event yesterday, Samat spoke of the lessons Google learned from its failed Glass project from the past decade.

The executive said the biggest lesson from the lack of commercial acceptance for Google Glass was that fashion outweighs technological appeal.

I learned a lot. The most important thing I learned is that fashion comes first, technology comes second.

That’s what we’re also seeing with the massive appeal of the Meta Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses. According to industry analysts’ estimates, Meta has likely sold over 7 million units of its smart glasses since their introduction in 2023. That is despite the fact that Meta’s technology does not necessarily feel superior to what Google is expected to offer.

Samat’s comment also explains the rationale behind partnering with popular eyewear brands such as Warby Parker and Gentle Monster for its new voice-only Android XR glasses. They emphasized that “sensibility and beauty” are vital to selling most consumer tech products, and the absence of these factors can lead to pushback from prospective buyers.

They added that Samsung played a pivotal role in artfully combining fashion and technology. Meanwhile, information about the internals remains limited, aside from both pairs of glasses running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR platform. Both the newly showcased products will be available around the fall this year.

Google Glass originally launched in 2013, but failed to gain the popularity Google hoped for due to multiple reasons. Android phones were still relatively less ubiquitous than they are now, but, more importantly, the technology did not offer any special edge at the time and merely served as an extra screen in front of the user’s eyes. Its bloated $1,500 price tag made the deal even more bitter for consumers, who might otherwise have considered it at a more approachable price. Despite this lack of enthusiasm, Google followed it up with another enterprise-grade model in 2017, which met a similar fate.

However, it looks to redeem itself with Gemini, which will now shoulder the majority of the responsibilities. At I/O 2026, Google also talked about how its upcoming smart glasses work in tandem with other devices, including the Pixel Watch (and, hopefully, other Wear OS watches). For glasses with displays, Google has mightier plans, which include a special glazen version of Android, so they share some of the phone’s responsibility, rather than just casting the app in your line of sight. Sadly, however, those won’t be here until next year.