Samsung and Google presented the last surprise of the year a few days ago, with the announcement of Android , for a very special experience.
In fact, it’s so special that Google has had to develop a new operating system, Android XR, which is compatible with Android apps but which is adapted to the needs of new devices; It is compatible with both virtual reality and augmented reality glasses, and even with wearables such as glasses with an integrated holographic screen, of which a prototype was shown.
Although it has already been confirmed that Samsung glasses will be accompanied by controls like those of the Meta Quest 3, the strong point of Android XR and extended reality is in the use of our hands to control the virtual environment. The front cameras of the device will be capable of recognize our fingers and the system will execute functions depending on the gestures we make. Now we know how it will work, with a surprise that we did not expect and that has been revealed by 9to5Google.
When the user has the glasses on, they will detect the hands and show their outline in the Android XR interface; We will be able to see a ‘virtual’ version of our hands, which will help us know what we are touching in the virtual environment, such as apps or parts of the interface. As expected, we can make different gestures to move apps and interact with menus.
But what we didn’t expect was to see the return of the classic three Android navigation buttons: the triangle, the circle and the square. Anyone who has been using Android phones for years recognizes these symbols, and although some brands change their position, their function is always the same: the triangle allows us to go back, the circle opens the application menu or returns us to the home screen, and the square allows us to see the apps that we have open.
The new Android XR floating menu with the three navigation buttons
The Free Android
Surprisingly, we can still use these buttons during navigation on Android XR; for them to appear, we just have to touch our thumb with our index fingerand a floating menu will appear with the three buttons, which perform the same function as on mobile phones.
In this way, we can change apps in augmented reality, return to the home screen, or go back in the apps, no need to touch physical buttons on the glasses themselves.
It’s a surprising solution, as Google has taken inspiration from what it knows works and is familiar to the user, rather than inventing something completely new that can be confusing. It’s ironic, because navigation buttons are precisely one of those things that are increasingly rare to see on modern mobile phones; although it is always possible to activate them in the Android settings, most people have become accustomed to gesture navigation on the touch screen.
