When it comes to wearable technology, there’s one gadget that everyone’s talking about: Google Glass. The hands-free headset is set to take the way we communicate to a new level, transforming the way we do everything from making calls to browsing the web on the go. Our very own Agent Vincent spent a week looking through Glass – and here’s what it looks like.
If you haven’t yet heard of 2014’s most hotly anticipated wearable gadget then, quite frankly, where have you been?! Google Glass is a hands-free device that sits on your head and allows you to carry out everyday tasks, from making a phone call to browsing your emails, and some more unusual ones too: gaze up into the starry night sky and Glass will give you detailed information on every constellation using voice playback.
Impressed? I got my hands on an early developer model for a week and decided to put Google Glass through its paces to find out where it hit, missed and plain impressed. So why not join me on this journey of exploration as I take a closer look at exactly what can be done with this game-changing piece of technology that literally allows you to look without touching?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GOOGLE GLASS
Google’s ‘Project Glass’ was announced at the Google I/O conference in April 2012. Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin unveiled the innovative concept behind Glass: portable, lightweight, durable and allowing users to stay connected to the web at all times. Glass’s Optical Head-Mounted Display (or OHMD for short) is designed to deliver information as and when it’s needed, without interruption, whilst also allowing the user to capture precious moments using the POV-style camera. In other words, Google Glass offers a whole new way of looking at the world, breaking down the barriers between the virtual and real, the gadgets we wear and the world around us.
Presently, Glass is available via invite only, which you only have a chance of getting if you signed up to be a ‘Glass Explorer’ on Google’s website. Explorers are picked from thousands of applicants and given the opportunity to purchase Glass. The hefty price tag, however, has been understandably off-putting for many: $1500 – that’s around £750 – for an incomplete model still in development. And as I soon discovered, yes, that meant bugs…lots of bugs.
However, many hardcore devotees to the Google cause – myself included – opted into the Explorer trial knowing full well what they were getting into, simply eager to be some of the first people to test-run the exciting possibilities offered by Glass. Here’s what happened.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
