It’s been a while since we’ve been wowed by Google’s Project Glass smart eyewear, but now the company has reminded us why we want a pair so badly with a brand new video entitled “How It Feels [through Glass]”.
In the video we get to see how Project Glass works from the perspective of the person wearing a pair, so as if the viewer is the one fortunate enough to be donning a pair of the uber-cool specs.
It seems Project Glass can do much, much more than we ever thought it could. The video demonstrates loads of features, ranging from video calling using Google+ Hangouts to turn-by-turn directions using Google Maps.
Google has gone for the high octane approach to show off the eyewear’s capabilities, with skiing and stunt planes all a part of the action. We see a chap in the stunt plane start a video call to his buddies using Google+, with the live video feed displayed in the top right corner of the eyewear, which is where everything is shown.
Project Glass also takes pictures and records videos, which can then be uploaded and shared online using some sort of data connection. Unfortunately we don’t yet know if the eyewear will have its own data connection or whether it will rely on sharing it with a smartphone.
Google’s new Google Now search function is also shown off; with the same travel cards you get on Android 4.2 smartphones like the Nexus 4 displayed on the eyewear’s display. We see the user walking through the airport as their flight time, direction and airline are all shown on the heads-up display.
When inactive the screen displays the time and date, which can switch to displaying the local weather.
Voice control appears to be a big aspect of Project Glass and the main method of asking it to do stuff. One particular short demo even shows us that we’ll be able to speak to the eyewear and have our speech translated to language of our choice, with phrases displayed on the small display in the top right corner.
Google is currently offering everyone the chance to be one of the first to pre-order the product by telling them on Twitter or Google+ what they would do with it, in 50 words or less. Unfortunately it’s only applicable to US residents of age 18 and over, but if you fit that bill then you can apply by tweeting to Google with the hashtag #ifihadglass to be in with a shot.