Google Glass, and the Potential of Wearable Technology �1

The Jetsons, Star Wars, and Iron Man: what do these three seemingly unrelated

media have in common? Each features different forms of wearable technology. From

smartwatches that can immediately get you in contact with someone, to glasses that

overlay a heads-up-display (HUD) on reality, wearable technology has been an integral

piece of people’s imagination and pop culture’s many greatest cinematic creations for

over half a decade. People have dreamed of devices that, at one point in time, were

completely impossible with modern technology; and this impossibility fascinated us as

a society. However, we are currently living in a technology age, and no longer do we

see man power and resources going towards development of machines such as super

computers, but instead an industry still in its relative infancy is pushing to put powerful

technology in the hands of the every day consumer.

One of these companies was started in 1998 in Mountain View, California, and

has one of the largest web presences of any other company in the world: Google.

Google has a dedicated division of the company known as Google X, who’s primary

purpose is to find things that were once thought to be impossible, and make them a

reality. With wearable technology being a very debated,

controversial, and fascinating topic today, Google took serious

interest into the subject. The company unveiled its foray into

wearable technology on April 4, 2012 by means of a post on its

social networking site, Google+, and later previewed prototype

hardware at Google I/O 2011. The endeavor was dubbed

Project Glass, and was like nothing the world had ever seen

before - at least in real life. Project Glass was a product that put a HUD in constant

sight right above your right eye by means of a wearable headset that looked like a

strange pair of glasses (hence the “Glass” moniker assigned to the project).

! Unfortunately, when Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and Google X leader,

took the stage in 2012 at Google’s annual Google I/O conference in San Francisco,

Google Glass, and the Potential of Wearable Technology �2

California, he didn’t announce what everyone was waiting to hear: Google Glass was

not going to be available to the public until late 2013 (later postponed until late 2014).

Everyone was confident in the expectation that it would ship by the end of 2012, only

to have those dreams dashed in one sentence, and one slide of a presentation.

However, those dashed dreams were soon reignited with a passion stronger than that

of the previous hope. This was done with one more sentence, and one more slide;

Sergey Brin announced that while it wasn’t available to the public yet, it would be

available for purchase by attendees of Google I/O 2012, and the program would be

called the Glass Explorers Program. This would be an elite program, with under two

thousand people to join the Glass Explorer Program by mid-2013, after Google

launched a contest on Twitter where people could Tweet with #ifihadglass added to

the Tweet in order to win a chance to be a part of this momentous program. Out of

some 7 billion people in this world, a mere two thousand were living in the future.

! The future was not inexpensive, however. Each and every one of the Glass

Explorers had bought their prototype editions of Google Glass for $1500, not including

the normal sales tax that comes along with purchasing a device. Currently, the Glass

Explorers Program is only open to those in the United States, and you are only given

the opportunity to join if you are requested to from an invite through Google. Google

did something unprecedented though, it allowed current Google Glass Explorers to

invite up to 3 friends to join the Glass Explorers Program.

! Google Glass, as a device, is extremely unique; as aforementioned, nothing of

this kind of technology had been seen before. Google is the first company to make a

wearable device for your head, whereas other companies, including the likes of

Samsung, Sony, and even Apple is rumored to enter the area, are making wristwatch-

like devices that are being called smartwatches. Google Glass is worn like a pair of

glasses, and includes on it a camera, a microphone, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a

bone conductive audio piece, as well as a heads-up-display that is viewable above the

Google Glass, and the Potential of Wearable Technology �3

right eye in your normal field of vision. Google plans on releasing a software

development kit to developers, and has already made available a limited sneak peak of

this GDK (Glass Development Kit) so that developer’s can begin working on bring

Glassware to reality.

! With this type of technology never having been seen in the real world before,

imaginations are running wild with different possibilities as to what could be done with

this sought after device. With so few invitations being made available, getting your

hands on Google Glass and being at the forefront of modern technology is extremely

difficult; you have to either be invited into the program by Google, or have a

connection with someone that is already a part of the Glass Explorers Program. There

is also a catch to the invitations: you have a mere 7 days to act, or else your code for

activation is deemed void.

! With one of these invitations, you have the chance to live in a future that only a

handful in the respective population are currently a part of. The potential of wearable

technology is always increasing as companies strive

to the be first in a field that was once deemed

something only to exist as Hollywood folklore. The

people at this forefront will the be ones that are the

trend setters for years to come, as well as the ones

that begin to shape the future as development for

these devices will be limited to those given the

opportunity to join what will become a historic

program in the field of technology. As the author T.S.

Elliot said, “Only those who will risk going too far can

possibly find out how far one can go.” Wearable technology and the surrounding

market is in its infancy, and the risks and potential of these devices have yet to be fully

realized. With my invitation into Google Glass, I can help shape the future.