Google's AR business sings "cool"? The head of the software team announced his departure on Monday

Text: Ma Lan

**Source: **Financial Association

Google appears to be in trouble with its augmented reality business, with Mark Lucovsky, head of its AR software team, announcing on Monday that he has left.

In late 2021, Google hired Lucovsky to develop the operating system and software for Google’s Project Iris smart glasses and other AR devices. However, the latest news is that the division is experiencing turmoil following the departure of Google’s head of VR (virtual reality), Clay Bavor, and Google’s decision to cancel the Iris glasses project. And Lucovsky’s departure is the latest development in the turmoil.

Lucovsky said that recent changes in the leadership of Google AR, as well as Google’s shaky promise and future, have greatly affected him. Last month, he applied for resignation, and his job expires on June 30.

He said that in the future, he will further participate in the cross-application of AR technology and generative artificial intelligence. He said that he is full of enthusiasm and looks forward to entering the next chapter.

Crowded AR Market

After shelving the Iris glasses project, Google appears to be focusing on building a “micro XR” platform that can be licensed to other device makers in the same way that Google has done with Android to phone vendors.

According to insiders, Google has changed its strategy on AR and will switch from a hardware manufacturer to a software provider. However, according to the press, Iris may still exist, it just won’t be made by Google anymore.

In February, Google, Samsung and Qualcomm issued a vague announcement that they planned to collaborate on a new mixed reality platform. The source pointed out that Google’s Iris is actually the basis for an upcoming Samsung device.

On the other hand, other competitors in the industry are still investing in the AR business.

Meta says its Quest 3 VR device will be available this fall for $499.99 for a 128GB version. Plus, Apple announced its first XR device, the Apple Version Pro, making the industry even more crowded.

And Google wants to build a system similar to Android to avoid direct competition to a certain extent, but it is more likely to emerge suddenly. The only problem is that Google itself does not seem to have reached a consensus internally, and the chaos of the team may not be conducive to the realization of this goal.