Glimmer: A Deep-Dive Guide for Modern Developers
Building UI for AI Glasses with Jetpack Compose
Smart glasses are entering a new era. What used to be futuristic prototypes or experimental developer kits is now becoming a real consumer platform powered by artificial intelligence, lightweight displays, and powerful context-aware sensors. Just like phones needed Android and iOS to become mainstream, AI glasses need a well-designed and developer-friendly UI system to grow — and this is exactly where Jetpack Compose Glimmer comes in.
Glimmer is not just a design style. It is a full UI layer built on top of Jetpack Compose, optimized for transparent, near-eye displays and the unique interaction patterns of AI-powered glasses. In this long-form article, we’ll explore what Glimmer really is, how glasses UI differs from phone UI, and how you can start building elegant, glanceable, minimal experiences using Compose today.
This guide is written for Android developers, Compose beginners, wearable enthusiasts, and UI designers who want to understand the UX and development model of the next major AI device category.
1. Why AI Glasses Need a New UI System
Designing for glasses is fundamentally different from designing for a smartphone. A glasses display is:
✔ semi-transparent — the real world is visible behind UI
This means color contrast, shadow depth, and legibility rules change completely.
✔ small — limited field of view
Users cannot view large components or heavy layouts.
2. What Is Jetpack Compose Glimmer?
Glimmer is a glasses-first UI framework built on top of Jetpack Compose. You use the same Kotlin declarative style you already know, but with new components, styles, and layout rules optimized for near-eye displays.
You get:
• GlimmerTheme
Applies colors, contrast rules, text scaling, spacing, and minimal shadows.
• Glimmer Components
Cards, buttons, icons, title bars, compact lists, and chips that work specifically for transparent displays.
• Glasses Interaction Patterns
Glimmer encourages patterns like voice hints, quick actions, glanceable summaries, and low-friction UI structure.
• Preview and Emulator Support
Android Studio provides tooling to preview and test how the UI looks on a glasses display.
Combined, Glimmer helps you build apps that feel natural and non-intrusive in augmented space.
3. Key Principles of Designing UI for AI Glasses
Before writing any code, you need to master the design philosophy behind Glimmer.
3.1 Glanceability Over Density
Glasses are not designed for prolonged reading. The user should understand what you're showing in less than 1 second.
Examples of glanceable UI:
- A small direction arrow with distance
- A two-line card showing “New message from Riya”
- A live caption strip with 1–2 short lines
Bad examples:
- A long, paragraph-style notification
- A complex form
- Multi-step popups
3.2 Minimal Typography with High Clarity
Text must be:
- Larger than phone text
- Bold at key focal points
- High-contrast
- Limited to 1–3 lines
Glimmer automatically adjusts text sizes to maintain clarity on transparent backgrounds.
3.3 Bottom and Corner Anchoring
Users naturally look slightly downwards, not straight ahead or upwards. That’s why:
Most UI is anchored at the bottom
Titles are small and unobtrusive
Action buttons sit near thumb areas (or easy gesture zones)
3.4 Stable Layouts and Calm Motion
Too much motion is distracting, especially when the real world is also moving.
Glimmer-enforced best practices:
- Minimal animations
- Small fades or slides
- No spring or bounce
- Predictable placement
3.5 Voice Is Primary, Touch Is Secondary
Your UI should always encourage voice actions:
“Say: ‘Open Messages’”
Microphone or waveform indicators
Simple action verbs
Touch or gesture actions should be minimal and optional.
4. Setting Up a Glimmer Project
While Glimmer is Compose-based, you’ll include it like other Jetpack libraries.
dependencies {
implementation("androidx.xr.glimmer:glimmer:1.0.0-alpha02")
}