Syed Imran Haider 
A strategic technology partnership has been established between augmented reality startup Magic Leap and Alphabet’s Google.
The two will work on developing immersive experiences that would blend the digital and physical worlds.
The partnership
On Thursday, Magic Leap announced the partnership via a blog post. A Google spokesperson also gave confirmation of the agreement.
The announcement did not share many details. However, it adds to rumors that Google might return to the market for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.
So far, the company has yielded this market to competitors Apple and Meta.
According to Magic Leap, the partnership would combine their expertise in device manufacturing and optics with Google’s technology platforms.
Julie Larson-Green, the Chief Technology Officer for Magic Leap, said that they had shipped a number of versions of augmented reality devices.
She said that they were delivering products, while Google is know for its platform thinking capabilities. Therefore, combining both their expertise would help them do a lot of things.
Based in Florida, Magic Leap is owned by the Public Investment Fund in Saudi Arabia. Google is also a Magic Leap investor.
Even though it was an early entrant in the AR headset space, the startup had struggled to find a customer niche.
The expectations
The startup had recently begun considering arrangements for licensing its technology or producing components for others.
Both Google and Magic Leap did not disclose if they plan on developing a consumer AR device together. Since early 2023, Google has also been collaborating with Samsung Electronics.
The aim is to develop mixed reality technologies. A Google spokesman said that the partnership with Magic Leap would not have any impact on that collaboration.
Larson-Green stated that she was looking forward to using some of the cool AI features that Google had announced earlier this month at its annual developer conference.
At the event, Google had showcased an AI agent via a video named Project Astra. It showed someone wear a glasses prototype and question the agent about what they were seeing.
The agent responded in both digital text and audio form. Meta is also planning on using the same functionality for its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.
First mover
If Google does decide to go back to making AR glasses, it would be a dramatic twist in its relationship with said technology.
Almost a decade ago, the company had been the first mover in what it had called an AR revolution. It had launched its Google Glass smart glasses.
However, there had been privacy concerns associated with the product and its clunky design also received criticism.
In 2015, the company had retreated from the consumer market and had then the enterprise market as well.
But, the company had shown a preview of a new set of glasses two years ago. It said that the glasses would offer real-time translations of conversations in Spanish, American Sign Language, Mandarin and English.
In January, the future of this project had become uncertain. This was because Google laid of hundreds of employees, including most of its AR team.
