Google’s new smart glasses let you use voice controls and a built-in touchpad to interact with Gemini and take photos and videos, but the Intelligent Eyewear collection will also be integrated with existing wearables. Google has confirmed to Gizmodo that Pixel Watches, Galaxy Watches, and eventually, the Fitbit Air, will be able to control the company’s smart glasses with gestures, letting wearers control their music and interact with AI without using their voice or touching the frames.
Like the existing gestures Google already supports on the Pixel Watch and similar gesture controls available on the Apple Watch, the company’s smart glasses can be manipulated with pinches and wrist turns. According to Google, you can use a double pinch to play or pause audio playback, a wrist turn to close an “experience” on the smart glasses, and a double pinch with your palm facing up to start talking to Gemini if you’re using a Pixel Watch.
Gestures make your smartwatch easier to use with one hand, but they’re even more meaningful as a control method for smart glasses. Depending on the situation, saying “Hey Gemini” or tapping a touchpad on your temple can look a little weird or be downright rude. A double pinch or a wrist turn is much more unobtrusive in comparison.
Google isn’t the only company offering gestures as a way to control its glasses. The Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses come with a Neural Band, a wristband that reads electrical signals in your muscles and nerves as a control method. Meta’s band offers more nuanced controls and can read more gestures, but it’s similarly meant to make controlling smart glasses easier.
What’s unique about Google’s approach is that it works with wearables that people might already own, including people outside of the Android ecosystem. The company says gesture controls will roll out to the Fitbit Air in early 2027, and because both Intelligent Eyewear and the Fitbit Air work with iOS, iPhone users will be able to control their smart glasses hands-free, too.
