What on earth are Google’s Augmented reality glasses, and project glass

After the Gmail tap – April fool trick from Google, the tech giant went on to unveil project glass via a YouTube video which featured a pair of spectacles that  interacts with the things that we see and acts as a basic day planner, Smartphone, turn-by-turn navigation system, camera and much more – and what they called Project glass.

The date for the release of the augmented reality eyeglasses as part of project glass has not yet been declared, but the New York Times’ Nick Bilton has exposed that the Google employees might be testing these in public this summer and that the release could be predicted by the end of the year. But according to the latest update, a Google spokesperson has duly indicated that it is very unlikely for the glasses to be available by the end of 2012.

The Google teaser of project glass surely suits the title, “Being a four-eyed has never been cooler”. The all so secretive Google X labs is the place where the Google team is working on the glasses, as part of a project named “Project Glass” and to share the updates and work experience with the people the team has collectively created a Google+ page. The Page for project glass now comprises of posted pictures of employees wearing the prototypes and even lets users submit ideas about the Google Glasses.

The glasses, part of project glass,  seem to be running the Google Android Operating System and functioning more via voice-control than view-control. A bar of small icons does float up just above the line of sight, letting the user select the preferred icon by looking upward. The user can choose from the popped up icons, some of which contain the weather, text messages and other Smartphone features. The glasses also attempt to interact with the world that the user sees in front of him.

A few practical uses of the glasses like; if the person sees a closed subway stop, the glasses would mention the reason for it being closed followed by an alternative route; if the wearer sees a book he/she like the book reviews and prices would be available instantly; if the user is waiting for a friend, the glasses would process and tell the exact position of your friend from the location using the GPS-sharing capabilities in the Google latitude service.

Already a couple of the wearable technology products are available, which take touches interaction and headset as the baselines for the future of communication and the head foe the very next logical step following the smartphones. Bilton even said that the contact wearers need not worry, Google contact lenses are on their way soon. One of the wearable products, the Verizon sponsored Golden-i headset also works quite similarly. The user just needs to place a band over his/her ear and a small display screen pops in front of the right eye. The user can then manipulate the movement of the screen in front of him by turning his head accordingly. The application opening and closing is controlled by voice controls.

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