Few products have been talked about as recently as much as Google Glass. Google unveiled Project Glass in April 2012, saying it started as a project in the company's not-so-secret Google X research lab. We're just coming up on the one-year point, which makes it a good time to round up and summarize what we've learned so far. It costs $1,500, assuming that you were able to get into the pilot program (more on that later); for now, there's no final list price yet. Here's what you need to know right now about Google Glass:
It projects a smartphone-like experience into your field of vision.
The basic idea is that you can see texts, email, queue up your music, check the weather, and more, all right in front of you. You can also respond or call up things with voice-activated commands, and the augmented-reality interface can highlight things you see in real life and tell you more about them. In addition, you can share live video of what you are seeing with someone else.
Google Glass itself is roughly a smartphone, in terms of hardware.
There's a camera and a button on top for taking photos, a touch pad on the side, a plethora of gyroscopes and accelerometers, a compass, multiple radios, a micro USB charger port, several microphones, and a tiny bone-conducting speaker. A Google Glass project member said in a Google+ Hangout last year that underneath the surface, it's roughly a Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Nexus , lacking just the cellular radio, and with some fine tuning to the TI OMAP 4460 processor. We still don't know if there's onboard storage, and we don't know how powerful the camera sensor is yet. The OS doesn't look like Android; Google won't say what it is.
There are some short demonstration videos worth watching.
First off is Google's landing page, which gives some quick basic examples of the user interface. As part of the original unveiling, Google also created a One Day video to show what it would be like to wear and use Project Glass. In the 2.5-minute video, you see the wearer walk through a typical day. Calendar reminders, sending and receiving text messages, train schedule changes, walking GPS directions (including inside a famous bookstore), nearby friend locations, and video chat all make an appearance in the video. There's also Google's incredible skydiving demo from Google I/O last year.
It's the first virtual reality-style pair of glasses that look (almost) like normal glasses. Google Glass is designed to be extremely lightweight, and reportedly weigh less than a standard pair of sunglasses. You can still tell there's something geeky about them, thanks to the little module on one side, but thankfully it's no Virtual Boy. Right now, Google is showing them off in five colors: black, orange, gray, white, and blue. Google Glass apparently can work in direct sunlight, thanks to either a translucent shade built into the other side of the glasses, or possibly photochromic material like you'd find in transitions lenses. This week, Google also said it is working on a prescription version of Glass.
It's still not available, and still in beta.
Back in June, Google began accepting pre-orders for an early Project Glass Explorer Edition, but you had to be a Google I/O conference attendee, live in the U.S., and put up the entire $1,500 Google was asking up front. On the Current network last year, Sergey Brin said in an interview, "I have some hopes to maybe get it out sometime next year [meaning during 2013], but that's still a little bit of a hope."
Last month, Google opened Glass availability to select people who posted a brief message to Twitter or Google+ with the #ifihadglass hashtag, as chosen by the company. This led LeVar Burton, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, to quip on Twitter that if he had Google Glass, "it would be a downgrade."
While Google initially touted it like a research project, it's clear there's more going on.
Google Glass held developer events in San Francisco and New York called Glass Foundry, which focused on jumpstarting third-party app development using its Mirror API and PHP, Python, and Java. Meanwhile, various Google employees have shown off Glass on Google+; people have them, but they're not allowed to leave Google's headquarters with them. It's pretty clear Google Glass is coming for real.
The day-to-day convenience could be amazing...
JetBlue recently released some photos to show what would happen if you wore Google Glass and had to take a flight, indicating that it could display flight status, tell you where the nearest electrical outlets at the airport were and whether they were free or being used, guide you to baggage claim, tell you how much a taxi ride will cost, or help you find a free parking spot in the garage.
Last week, ConAgra Foods released a concept app mockup video showing what it would be like to go grocery shopping while wearing the glasses. It demonstrated shoppers finding the quickest route through the store to get each item on the list, labels the aisles by category, and shows food nutrition and review information, all within an augmented reality-style UI.
...but some people are freaked out by the privacy implications—and rightly so. One Seattle bar has already turned it into a PR stunt. But the fact remains that people don't always want the world to know exactly where they are and who they're with at all times. And the fact that Google Glass can snap photos and record video automatically opens up all sorts of social and privacy concerns, as it's much less obvious than someone holding up a phone or camcorder.
We're starting to learn about Google Glass apps.
During SXSW, Google showed off some early app partners for delivering the little bursts of information that appear inside the glass. Geek.com reports that it's kind of like Android notifications, in that Glass can only display icons and small bits of text in the miniature projector screen; it can't block your actual vision in real life, after all. When you take a photo or record video, you can share it via a new option on the timeline, but you don't have to stop what you're doing and share it immediately from a dialog box. Text and email comes in via pop-ups, and you can dictate responses with your voice. Tap on a news story using the trackpad, and the full version will appear.
We're excited as you are.
You can look on the company's Project Glass Google+ page for updates. Unfortunately, Google's How to Get One page is currently not accepting new applications, but you can put in your name and e-mail address to stay informed. But keep checking PCMag, where we will have continuing coverage of Google Glass, especially the most important of all questions: Is it as good as it looks? Stay tuned.
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