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Google has announced a new version of its corporate AR glasses, the Glass Enterprise Edition 2. From now on, the glasses will be marketed as an official Google product, and no longer as an experimental project within X, the moonshot factory of Google’s parent company Alphabet.

X was a great environment to get to know and refine the Glass product. To meet the demand of the growing market for wearables in companies, and to better scale our efforts for companies, the Glass team moved from X to Google, says Jay Kothari, Project Lead for Glass, in a blog post.

Glass Enterprise Edition 2

The Glass Enterprise Edition 2 costs $999 and is built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 platform. The faster processor is combined with a new AI engine. This allows for better image recognition and machine learning performance, while optimising energy consumption. Also the camera and battery have been improved, and USB-C has been added for faster charging.

The design hasn’t changed much, with a simple heads-up display at the top of the glasses. Google is also adding new security goggles, in collaboration with the American Smith Optics. On the software side, the Glass runs on Android, with support for Android Enterprise Mobile Device Management.

Consumer flop

Google initially marketed Glass as a consumer product, but was unable to convince the general public. The glasses were therefore reinvented as a professional tool for use by surgeons, technical staff, factory workers and so on. According to Google, companies using Glass experience faster production times, improved quality and lower costs.

Google plays with Glass in the same market as Microsoft with its HoloLens. Companies are becoming increasingly enthusiastic about the use of augmented reality in various sectors, while the technology on the consumer side is not willing to break through.

Related: First impression: Microsofts HoloLens 2 is ready for the real thing

This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.