Google Add ‘Meet on Glass’ AR Video Calls To Google Meet Platform

oogle has recently announced that the company is expanding its video conferencing service Meet, to all users of its augmented reality goggles, glass.

The new experience, ‘Meet on Glass’ has been developed to enable technicians and other front line workers to livestream their first-person perspective on a video call, similar to how one would on their desktop. Other headset users are able to see and talk with other co-workers on the call simultaneously. 

Google explained in a recent blog post that all users of Glass Enterprise Edition 2 will now be able to access the beta version of Meet on Glass, which launched for a select few testers in October 2020.

Google states that the transition to bring video conferencing to Glass is part of the bigger commitment to develop new and immersive ways for workers to collaborate outside of the office environment.

Google Workspace Director, Dave Citron wrote:

“Meet on Glass is one of the ways we’re bringing powerful new video conferencing experiences to customers around the world, regardless of the devices they’re using to connect and collaborate with their teams… When combined with our Google Meet hardware and peripherals, the possibilities for real-time connection and problem solving are even greater.”

At the moment the Glass is only pitched for enterprise, specifically frontline workers operating out of factories and data centres to name a couple. Technicians performing maintenance work would be able to dial into a Google Meet session to discuss the best course of action with co-workers, with both parties able to examine the equipment in real-time.

Citron continued:

“Seeing is believing. For many service technicians, trainers and other frontline workers, the ability to share a real-time view of what they can see with their virtual clients or teams can make all the difference,”

It is easy to see how augmented reality glasses imagine video conferencing on a consumer grade level could be a reality in the future, currently the main barrier to entry is price. At the moment the current generation of Google Glass headsets cost almost $1,000 per headset and the Microsoft HoloLens 2 comes in at a staggering $3,500, although with a much greater range of features. However, as the technology continues to enhance and manufacturing costs lower, it may not be too much longer before consumers are using augmented reality glasses to video call family and friends too.