Google is expected to trial new augmented reality glasses in public next month

Google Glass has been silenced for seven years, but the company is once again diving into augmented reality to develop another set of smart glasses. The firm is now developing its new AR prototype eyewear for public testing to determine their real-world potential, promising that "it's early, and we want to get this right, so we're taking it slow."

Google has been working on this new generation of AR glasses for a while now, and in May it provided a sneak peek at where things were. A video released by Google showed the eyewear being used to translate voice-to-text in real time and display it on the user's view, allowing them to comprehend speech in other languages.

The possibilities for the new AR glasses are enormous, however. Google claims that while it can learn a lot from testing the glasses in a laboratory environment, there are limitations to what it may discover and how useful the technology will be if real-world conditions like weather and traffic were taken into account.

This is a huge step for Google, and it's also significant because it will provide the search engine giant with data about how people might put these devices to use in their daily lives. The glasses will have in-lens displays, microphones, and cameras, but they won't be used to take photographs or videos. Instead, the onboard hardware will be utilized for things like menu translations or directions to a cafè near you.

To begin with, a small number of Google employees and chosen testers will publicly test these glasses, with the program to start next month.