As seen by the job description outlined on 9to5Google, the team will build software for an “innovative AR gadget”. In charge of the group is Mark Lucovsky, who came as a new employee this week and declared his arrival on the scene. Former Meta employee Lucovsky worked on designing an in-house alternative to Android to power the company’s hardware. He also co-authored the Windows NT operating system.
Google says this team will be responsible for developing “the software components that control and manage the hardware on its Augmented Reality (AR) products. As you can see, this is not the first time that Google has tried to make augmented reality software. It has worked on ARCore for Android and Tango. They’re making a device called “Google Glass” that’s meant for businesses and “the enterprise market”, and it runs on Android right now.
As per Google,
We want to make immersive computing available to as many people as possible through mobile devices. The role of the Senior Software Engineer confirms “they’ll create compelling AR experiences on highly-customized hardware platforms.” A lot of other listings are for people who work with cameras and input hardware, and there are some that say “real-time operating system (RTOS) development.”
While the majority of the positions are based in the United States, 9to5Google reports that some are based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada as well. North, the augmented reality startup that developed the Focals smart glasses, which Google acquired last year, has its headquarters in this city as well.
When you look at this acquisition and these open job positions, it looks like Google is getting a lot more serious about making and releasing more AR hardware.
Google’s rekindled interest in developing mixed reality headsets couldn’t have come at a better time, given that Apple is expected to release its own mixed reality headset as early as next year.
