A model displays a pair of lens-free glasses with an onboard microphone and data screen in the first glimpse of Google’s ambitious Project Glass initiative that is a bid to leapfrog touch-screens with a wearable device.
With its game-changing iPhone and iPad product lines, Apple may have ushered in a revolution in touch-screen computing, but competitor Google is hoping to lead the next phase of interactivity with a voice-based wearable computing interface. The search giant has unveiled several pictures and a tantalizing YouTube video offering the first glimpses of an initiative it is calling “Project Glass.” The name seems to refer to a tiny display screen situated off to the right that provides visual information to a wearer of a pair of futuristic frames that appear to also house an integrated microphone and speaker for conversing with a computer assistant.
As you can see from the close-up, the frames’ only lens is a small window of glass situated off center, which seems not to correspond with the view in the video below, showing data in the center of the field of view.
The Google team working on this project is soliciting feedback from the public, and has set up a page on its social network Google+ devoted to the initiative. “A group of us from 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,” the page reads. “We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input. So we took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.”
It is notable that despite the project being named after glass, the actual device itself appears to utilize very little of the substance. But perhaps it is an appropriate name as it is an attempt to superimpose computer data on one’s personal view of the world, as if there were a glass windshield in front of our eyes. From the images of models sporting the device, the screen appears off to the right of the field of view, but in the point-of-view video, the data appears more centered. Obviously this is only a starting point and the conceptual stages will give way to a more fully realized prototype down the road. In the meantime, enjoy the conceptual video below.
http://youtu.be/9c6W4CCU9M4
For more information, and to join the “Project Glass” conversation: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111626127367496192147/posts