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What is Google Glass ?

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When it comes to transcending reality and transporting science fiction material into reality, the field of technology succeeds in ways that are numerous and ingenious. Perhaps the one company which has spearheaded this conversion more than others is Google. In April 2012, Google Glass was announced at the Google I/O developer conference.The Explorer Edition, was released in April 2013 to a limited number of developers .Later in May 2014. the Consumer Edition of Google Glass was released to the public.

The Google Glass

Sebastian Thrun, the inventor of the Glass defines it as a way of outsourcing the human brain. The reason why he sets so peculiar a definition is that Google Glass literally, digitalizes a person’s personal experience. The Glass is an optically mounted headgear in the shape of an eyeglass. It has three main components.

  • The bar of the eyeglass – conventionally, the sidebar of a spectacle – is the touchpad. The touchpad can be used by the user to engage with the device in a timeline of events.
  • The optical part of the Glass – the ‘display’ – is used to display information as if on a screen.
  • Supplementing these is the camera embedded in the Glass which can be used to take pictures and record videos.

When it was initially developed at Google by X , it created ripples in the world. It was heralded as proof that the technology of the world was potent enough to bridge the gap between a highly advanced future and a sluggish present. Many also pointed out the correlation between the Glass and other optical headgears referenced heavily in popular media and popular culture via stories. It is no wonder that when the project was first announced, around 8,000 people agreed to pay the hefty sum of $1,500 to be allowed access to the Glass in its beta version. Much like a smartphone, the Glass can be voice-operated and can recognize the user’s voice. Applications for the Glass are similarly made by third-party developers, some of them using the specially designed Mirror API rolled out by Google. The Glass can be controlled via one’s smartphone through the MyGlass app. But the real reason why the gap is truly revolutionary is that it can mitigate the ailments of society in a very unique way. It was once used by WWF for documenting the sustenance and existence of many species in the wild and the circumstances in which they live. This was useful in locations that are remote and inaccessible. It can help autistic patients in engaging with the outside world in a way better than the other conventional modes of technology. Furthermore, the John Hopkins Centre experimentally used the Glass to scan the image of a person’s retina and extrapolate corresponding data that had the potential to help in medical research. The far-reaching implications of Google Glass are what make it so unique and different from the other avenues of technology. The brains behind the project indubitably illuminate the ingenious power of Google both as an information technology giant and as a propagator of human efforts. Indeed, the gaps between a utopian, bright future and a static present are being eroded faster than one can be comprehended and before late, we might soon find ourselves living in futures that resemble those of Sci-Fi stories.

Google Glass towards an end

On January 15 , 2015 Google announced that they would wil no longer sell Glass Enterprise Edition  from March 15, 2023, although they will continue supporting Glass Enterprise Edition until September 15, 2023. This was surely due to lack of demand but there are some other factors of failure too

  • Price: Google Glass was priced at $1,500 and $999, which seemed to be too expensive for most consumers.
  • Functionality: Glass offered same functionality that any other devices, such as smartphones and smartwatches provides.
  • Lack of clear use cases: Glass was never able to clearly define its target audience. Comsumers thought of it more as a gimmick or a toy, and there was a lack of understanding of its potential uses.
  • Technical issues: Glass had a number of technical issues, such as battery life and overheating.
  • Design: Its design was quiet bulky and didn’t look very stylish to fashionista.

Despite the fact that Google Glass failed to gain mainstream adoption , it paved way for different AR technologies.


Last Updated : 31 Jul, 2023
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