Google just showed off some AR glasses that will translate the world for you

Who remembers Google Glass? That was Google's ill-fated attempt at bringing AR glasses to the world. They came out when the tech was still in its infancy and people were put off because of privacy concerns.

Now, though, with AR tech embedded in our phones - if you haven't used Google Lens, try it now! - it may well be the right time to bring out some new wearables for the face.

At its Google IO conference, Google showed a sneak peak of some prototype glasses, in a video that showcased them translating someone in real time, offering up subtitles of what they are saying through the glasses.

If they work like the video shows, then this could be something that could revolutionise the way we talk to people around the world. That's a big if, mind.

We were impressed with what we saw, though. Head to the Twitter video below to see what you think.

Augmented reality can break down communication barriers – and help us better understand each other by making language visible. Watch what happens when we bring technologies like transcription and translation to your line of sight. #GoogleIO ↓ pic.twitter.com/ZLhd4BWPGh
— Google (@Google) May 11, 2022

Speaking about its push into AR, Google's big boss Sundar Pichai noted: "Looking ahead, there is a new frontier of computing, which has the potential to extend all of this even further. And that's augmented reality. At Google, we've been heavily invested in this area. We have been building augmented reality into many Google products from Google."

He continued: “Language is so fundamental to connecting with one another. Yet, understanding someone who speaks a different language or trying to follow a conversation if you’re deaf or hard of hearing can be a real challenge.

“Let’s see what happens when we take our advancements in translation and transcription and deliver them in your line of sight in one of our early prototypes.”

Will we ever see the glasses come to the market? No idea. Google has been burnt before in this area, but the video is pretty awesome.

And if you want to know about the Google gadgets that are real and being released this year and next, then head to our report on the show.