During its Google I/O 2025 keynote on Tuesday, Google tossed around the Gemini name nonstop, to no one’s surprise. It also spent some time talking about something called Project Astra, a key part of its visual AI technology.
You can think of Project Astra as a testing ground, and its capabilities will eventually trickle down into products and services you’ll be able to use. We’ve seen this in the form of Gemini Live camera mode, which is getting its iOS debut starting Tuesday, but it’ll also make its way to other products, like AI Mode search.
Google demoed a series of Astra-centric features during its keynote, and we’ll touch on some of the highlights below.
For more, don’t miss Google AI Mode will help you buy tickets to events.
Gemini Live camera mode rolling out to iOS devices
Gemini Live’s camera mode was announced as rolling out to “everyone” on Android and iOS starting Tuesday.
The feature lets you start a Live session with your phone’s camera enabled so you can talk with Gemini and ask it to identify objects and to answer questions about what’s in your environment. I put it through a series of real-world tests and walked away pretty impressed, not least when it called my attention to a pair of scissors I didn’t realize it had spotted.
Google first began rolling out the new Gemini Live camera mode to Samsung Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9 devices back in March and then made it available for all Android users with the Gemini app installed. Now, iPhone users will be able to join the fun.
New Project Astra models will make Gemini Live smarter
During the I/O keynote, Google also showed off in a video the latest research model for Project Astra, detailing how it could help a guy who was trying to fix their bike.
In a back-and-forth conversation, the guy doing the repair asked Astra to locate a user manual for the specific bike — a Huffy — and then to find the specific pages in the manual for fixing a certain part of the bike. Astra even brought up a YouTube video showing how to remove a stripped screw and called a local bike shop to see if a specific item was in stock. In the perfect world of the video, the person casually and naturally asked specific questions, and Astra responded seamlessly.
Not unlike some of the recent announcements for the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, Google highlighted Project Astra’s helpfulness as an accessibility utility. Partnering with Aira, Google is leveraging Project Astra to help low-vision users more easily navigate the world around them with the help of volunteers.
Another video showed how a low-vision musician could move through his surroundings and get on stage to perform a show.
Project Astra won’t be contained to Gemini
Project Astra’s visual prowess will eventually find its way to AI Mode in Google Search. While the demo looked similar to what’s currently available within the Gemini app (and likely is), some people may not be interested in downloading a dedicated chatbot app but wouldn’t mind having some AI visual assistance within a search itself.
While you’re here, don’t miss Chrome to get big Gemini integrations, with a catch.
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