In a secluded room inside Google's New York offices, CNET's Scott Stein browsed a bookshelf filled with titles he's never read. After picking up one of the books, Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer, he asked whether he needed to read the other installments in the series to appreciate it.

Google is taking another run at making headsets work. The company just announced Android XR, a new operating system designed specifically for what Google calls “extended reality” devices like headsets and glasses.

Google appears to be partnering with manufacturers to get Android XR on as many devices as possible including future offerings from Sony, Xreal and Lynx, to name a few. However, several patents were recently discovered by Patently Apple that covers an array of smart glasses applications, hinting at the return of Google-made glasses.

Google also announced the first Android XR device, Project Moohan, a mixed-reality headset produced by Samsung that appears very similar to the Apple Vision Pro.

We got an early hands-on look at Samsung's mixed-reality headset and Google's glasses, powered by an all-seeing assistant.

Google's latest push into extended reality is taking shape. While the company isn't entirely ready to show off any products just yet, it has laid out a vision for a unified Android XR ecosystem that will span a range of devices — such as virtual reality headsets and mixed reality glasses — in partnership with Samsung and Qualcomm.