Google will follow Facebook into the promised land of virtual reality this week, announcing at its Google I/O developers conference a new Android-based platform that can be used for head-mounted display hardware running immersive applications, a leading virtual reality analyst has predicted.

Attendees at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco this Thursday and Friday could also witness the launch of an augmented reality platform - possibly as part of the same virtual reality platform - that could revive Google's controversial Google Glass project, said Brian Blau, the research director for consumer technology and markets at Gartner.

While virtual reality head-mounted displays (HMDs) completely immerse their wearer in a virtual world, augmented reality HMDs simply add a virtual layer, usually of useful information, on top of the real world.

Facebook's Oculus platform is due in the first quarter of 2016. AFP

But because the technology required to create an AR headset is similar to the technology needed in a VR headset - both need headtracking, eye-mounted displays and very fast processing - there's no reason to think they won't be both announced as part of the same Android-based platform. Mr Blau predicted, merging Glass, VR and possibly even Android Wear (Google's wearable computing platform, which is now used in smart watches) into one, ambitious platform.

"2015 is year one for virtual reality," said Mr Blau.