Skip to footer

Google reveals futuristic 'Project Glass'

Google released a YouTube video Wednesday showing the everyday uses of "Project Glass," wrap-around virtual reality glasses with all the qualities of a smartphone – and much more. But will it ever be realized?

|
Screenshot/Google
Google included virtual video chatting in the Project Glass mock-up video.
  • By Megan Riesz

Google has once again unveiled a project mock-up that, if realized, would turn the technology industry on its head. This time, it’s Project Glass, wrap-around glasses that display reminders, the weather, messages, and more – right in front of the user’s eyes.
 
“A group of us from [Google’s experimental lab, Google X,] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment,” says the Project Glass Google+ page. “We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input.”
 
While Project Glass is only in the first stages of inception, Google employees are already testing the headsets, according to The New York Times. But so far, it’s unclear whether the average consumer will like Google’s futuristic technology.

For those who value convenience, Google’s “glasses” will be a must-have. There’s nothing to hold or type, the promotional video shows. All the user has to do is look at or vocalize something to give the headset direction. One quick tap takes a photograph, but that’s the limit of physical controls.
 
“We believe technology should work for you – to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t,” the video’s caption says.
 
Photographs of Project Glass show that the prototype sits on the face as glasses do, but leaves the eyes unblocked, a far cry from reports that said the headset would look like a pair of Oakley Thumps.
 
On the other hand, the prototype is evidence that inside Google X’s secret laboratory in California, designers are working to make technology an even bigger part of everyday life. Some say they resent this.
 
“Don't you guys feel that such a device basically removes all social interactions[?]” one YouTube user commented on the video.
 
Another quoted Dr. Ian Malcolm from “Jurassic Park”: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
 
Regardless of opinion, it looks like Project Glass could turn into a full-fledged product by the end of 2012. Until then, enjoy your smart phones.

For more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut. And don’t forget to sign up for the weekly BizTech newsletter.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Google reveals futuristic 'Project Glass'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0404/Google-reveals-futuristic-Project-Glass
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe