Android XR chief on the moment he realized — 'Things have changed. This is very different. This is very new. It's very powerful.'

A revolution in wearable technology is now on the horizon. Soon we'll see a legion of smart glasses that combine on-demand and on-need AI-backed audio and visual information, delivered with or without your nearby smartphone, and all without the imposition of oddball looks or physical discomfort. However, the revolution is yet to be built on "aha!" moments (and maybe some FOMO).

That's the conclusion I drew after speaking with Juston Payne, Google's Senior Director of Product Management for XR. We were chatting moments after I had my own "aha!" moments with dev-kit-level monocular and dual-screen Android XR smart glasses. You can read more about that impressive first look here.

What convinced me (and clearly Payne) that this is the next big thing was a personal experience he had in Italy. As Payne explained it, his family was on a trip in Rome ...