Google · AR / VR · Filed Feb 27, 2026 · USPTO published Nov 12, 2026 · This week's release

Google Files Patent for Smartglasses Menus You Control by Moving Your Eyes

Google's smartglasses patent application skips the hard question of exactly where you're looking and asks an easier one: which way did your eyes just move?

By Patentlyze Team · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · 3 min read

Smart glasses display an on-screen menu that lets the wearer navigate and select items by shifting their gaze. Drawing from patent filing US 2026/0358884 A1. — Smart glasses display an on-screen menu that lets the wearer navigate and select items by shifting their gaze.All 12 drawings ↓

Publication number: US 2026/0358884 A1(US20260358884A1)
Applicant: GOOGLE LLC
Filed · Published: Feb 27, 2026 · Nov 12, 2026
Inventors: Jochen Weber, Tobias Toft, Prasanthi Gurumurthy
Status when we published: Waiting for an examiner
Document: 20 claims
US classification: 715/810
Parent application: National Stage Entry of PCT/US2023/075404 (filed Sep 28, 2023)(PCTUS2023075404)

What Google's eye-movement menu system does

Every time you open an app on your phone, you tap it with a finger. Smartglasses give you nothing to tap, and nobody wants to carry a mouse around for a pair of glasses. Google's answer in this patent application is your eyes.

Most eye tracking tries to work out the exact spot you're staring at, which is hard to do accurately. This filing takes a different route. The glasses remember the last spot you looked at, then watch which direction and how fast your eyes moved from there. That tells them which icon you're heading for, even if the exact spot is a little off.

Your head helps too. If your head nudges the same way your eyes went, the glasses treat it as a real choice. If the two disagree, they treat it as a glitch and do nothing.

From the filing · CLAIM 1

determining a gaze characteristic of a user of a wearable device; identifying a previous fixation point as a first fixation point; determining a second fixation point based on the first fixation point and the gaze characteristic; …

Translation: The glasses track how your eyes move from one spot to another.

How the glasses guess your next glance

The claims cover a method for glasses with a head-locked interface (menus that stay fixed in the same place on the lens no matter how you turn your head). The device measures a gaze characteristic, meaning data like the direction and speed of your eye movement. It takes your previous fixation point (the last spot on the interface you looked at) as a starting position.

From that starting point plus the eye movement, it works out a second fixation point. In the described version, this is a lookup table: find the starting point, then filter by the eye movement to land on one answer. A second table links that point to an icon or menu item, and selecting it triggers an action, such as showing contacts or taking a photo.

The filing describes several supporting pieces:

Grid sectors: the interface is divided into blocks, and each icon covers a group such as 2×2, which makes targets easier to hit.
Saccades (fast eye jumps): a slow one means you're moving within a menu, a fast one means you're heading to a different element.
Head check: a motion sensor builds a head movement vector, and it must point the same way as your eyes to confirm the gesture.
Error handling: if a gesture looks false, the action is cancelled and you can redo it.

To get a starting point, the interface can show an object, such as one that fades in or flashes in a corner, so the glasses know where you are looking first.

Why hands-free glasses menus need this

The practical point is control without accessories. Glasses have no room for a mouse, keyboard or touch surface, and tapping the frames interrupts whatever you're doing. A way to pick menu items just by glancing between them would let you use the glasses while your hands stay busy.

The filing also says this approach lowers the accuracy and calibration demands on eye tracking, which it ties to cost savings, and that selections should hold up while you walk. For you, that could mean glasses that work without a fussy setup. The patent does not name a product, so treat it as a look at how Google is thinking about menus on glasses.

Google's 57th filing we've tracked in our smart glasses display watchlist since May builds on earlier applications like the wrist buzz for air writing and the fold-to-sleep fix.

Editorial take

The benefit you would notice is forgiveness. Eye trackers that must pinpoint your exact gaze depend on careful calibration, and a missed click on a computer you wear on your face is maddening. Judging where your eyes moved from where they just were leaves more room for error.

The head check is the part that protects you from accidents. If the glasses see your eyes jump but your head disagrees, they drop the action, so a stray glance should not open a folder or snap a photo. Looking away from the menu to close it also matches how people already behave.

The catch is that someone has to lay out the menus ahead of time on a grid with large targets. Expect a handful of big icons on screen, which suits glasses well, but you will not be browsing a dense screen with your eyes alone.

Source: US 2026/0358884 A1 at the USPTO (PDF). Full patent text and figures are in the official publication.

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