Google shows off new
Net-connected glasses
Firm unveils see-through screen
that can be placed above a person's eye and can help the wearer view data,
maps, click pictures
Google Inc. on Wednesday offered
a look at a previously secret project to develop Internet-connected glasses,
staking out a lead position in a futuristic and fast-growing area known as
wearable computing.
The glasses, which are still in a
prototype stage, would place a small see-through display screen above a
person's eye that can show maps and other data. The wearer could use voice
commands to, say, pull up directions or send a message to a friend. Apple, a
major Google rival, is also reportedly working on wearable computers. In April
2008, the firm filed a patent for a head-mounted display system that showed
glasses with screens.
But Google has amassed some of
the leading experts in this field within Google X, a company lab responsible
for such projects that was also something of a company secret before Wednesday.
Richard W. DeVaul, a former Apple
engineer who specializes in wearable computers, left that firm last year to
join Google X. According to DeVaul's website, he is now a “rapid evaluator”,
working in a team at Google run by Astro Teller, who specializes in artificial
intelligence and wearable devices.
Another Google employee, Babak
Parviz, who is also an associate professor at the University of Washington,
specializes in bio-nanotechnology, the fusion of biology and technology focused
on manipulating atoms and molecules. He most recently built a contact lens with
embedded electronics that form a miniature display—raising the possibility that
Project Glass, as Google is calling the eyeglass effort, could become Project
Contact Lens at some point.
“This puts Google out in front of
Apple; they are a long ways ahead at this point,” said Michael Liebhold, a
senior researcher specializing in wearable computing at the Institute for the
Future in Palo Alto, California. “In addition to having a superstar team of
scientists who specialize in wearable, they also have the needed data elements,
including Google Maps.”
Liebhold said the prototype was
“much less dorky-looking than all of the heads-up displays we’ve seen to date”.
He added, “Of course, it could be really annoying, but if it’s handled well, it
could be a nice complement to reality.”
Some more basic wearable
computers are quickly becoming everyday products. Nike began selling a bracelet
called the FuelBand earlier this year that tracks a person's activity. A firm
called Jawbone sells a similar monitoring device called Up.
Motorola sells a head-mounted
display device aimed at business use called the Golden-I, with the screen on an
arm that hangs in front of the wearer’s face.
The design prototype Google
unveiled on Wednesday looks more like a well-designed pair of wraparound
glasses—but with no actual glass in the frames. A person working on the project
said Google was having its employees test out dozens of other designs, with the
goal of giving outsiders access to an early version later this year.
Although some may salivate at the
idea of these sci-fi toys, it is unclear whether people will want to wander the
streets with a screen in their field of view.
Yet, people who have seen and
used working prototypes said there seemed to be a misconception that the
glasses would interfere with daily life by bombarding wearers with information
and distracting them from the real world.
One such person said: “They let
technology get out of your way. If I want to take a picture, I don’t have to
reach into my pocket and take out my phone; I just press a button at the top of
the glasses, and that’s it.”
©2012/THE NEW YORK TIMES
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