Google on Thursday opened pre-orders for its new Intelligent Eyewear collections, which will launch in stores and online on Dec. 10.
The glasses, designed with Gentle Monster, Warby Parker and Samsung, give users hands-free help from Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence, according to Shahram Izadi, vice president and general manager of XR at Google. The frames work with Pixel, Samsung and iPhone devices.
Warby Parker’s collection features three styles starting at $395, available with prescription, width and lens options. Gentle Monster offers six bold-colored styles starting at $449, with prescription options for most frames. The Gentle Monster collection will be available in the United States and South Korea.
Google said the glasses weigh about 41 grams and have a battery life of up to nine hours. Each pair includes a portable charging case that can recharge the frames up to seven times.
Users can ask Gemini to add items to a grocery list, provide calendar reminders, check information on objects they are looking at, or translate speech in more than 70 languages through Google Translate, according to the announcement. Google Maps can provide turn-by-turn directions.
The glasses feature a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera to take photos and videos, and open-ear speakers to play music and take phone calls. An indicator light shows when the camera is recording, and the frames will not record if the indicator is blocked, Google said.
The eyewear includes a Guided Vision feature offering audio descriptions for people who are blind or have low vision, though Google noted the feature is not a medical device or mobility aid. Through an integration with Aira, users can also stream the camera feed to a human visual interpreter.
Camera visuals processed by Gemini are not saved in users’ history, are not used to train AI models or target ads, and are designed to automatically redact bystanders’ faces, the company said.