Google’s plan to put a computer on your face has not been abandoned, Executive Eric Schmidt tells WSJ. Google is currently working on making “it ready for users”.
A new Google Glass is coming
Google announced Google Glass in April 2012 and started selling it as an expensive “explorer version” some time after. Google stopped selling it and shut down the Explorer program in January, which led some to believe that the project was cancelled.
That is not the case, says Eric Schmidt. He stresses that these things take time and that the eyewear technology is too important to scrap.
- “It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google,” Schmidt said to WSJ. “We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us canceling the whole project, which isn’t true. Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it.”
Google Glass has been moved a separate unit after having been part of the Google X research lab that is also working on a self-driving car. Ivy Ross is the head of the Glass team and Tony Fadell oversees strategy for the project.
Early rumors suggest that the new version is smaller, has better battery life, and modre advanced display technology. Google is also said to be looking into ways to make it fit better on eyeglasses. Google recently invested millions in a company called Magic Leap that is believed to own impressive augmented reality technology.
Google Glass has received criticism for being too invasive and nerdy, but wearable computers look inevitable. The question is the form factor and Google is obviously betting on two horses with its Android Wear for watched and Google Glass for the face.
- Source: WSJ
