
Most of the features that Google is positioning around Intelligent Eyewear rely on Gemini. See a poster for a comedy show? Just ask Gemini for more information, or add it to your calendar. You can ask Gemini to add items to your shopping list or whip up a travel itinerary with hotel recommendations and save them to a note. Some of these are saved in the Gemini app, but it can leverage other apps on your smartphone. For example, Gemini can play music on Apple Music if you're on an iPhone. And if you use Samsung Notes on a Samsung phone, it'll know that's where you likely want your notes saved.
When you activate Gemini, it's technically a “Gemini Live” experience, meaning the assistant activates and you can have a free-flowing conversation. A swipe back on the glasses' arm will end the interaction. When you want it to “look” at something in front of you, be specific in your query; otherwise, it won't use the camera. You can ask it to look at a page in a book and summarize the content, or if you have a bunch of cocktail ingredients in front of you but don't know what to make, you can ask Gemini for suggestions and step-by-step instructions to craft a drink—at your pace.
Some Gemini controls are on-device and don't need to travel to the cloud, like asking the assistant to play the next track. Speaking of, early next year, Google says users can use gestures on devices like the Fitbit Air or Google Pixel Watch to control music playback or activate Gemini on the glasses right from their wrist.
Another big capability is translation. Gemini will automatically detect languages and translate them to your preferred tongue. You do need to stare at the individual to hear their words translated, and there's a limited range; the quality depends heavily on the environment and noise level, but it worked remarkably well in my controlled demos, with only a few errors. The translation tries to mimic the speaker's tone and voice so it feels like their own words.