Thanks to being one of the world’s largest companies, Google has the time and money to throw at highly-secretive, cutting edge projects. It currently has several in development, but one in particular that has come to light recently is a set of ‘stylish’ Augmented Reality glasses.
The product is said to resemble everyday sunglasses, though with masses of tech crammed in. The lenses will be capable of doing their regular job of, you know, being see-through, but will also be able to display translucent images as a HUD, or ‘Heads-up Display’.
Using a form of data connection – presumably either 3G or 4G – the eyewear will be able to show things like weather updates, restaurant reviews and more on the screen. Augmented Reality will work with tiny cameras to detect what you’re looking at, and Google’s online services can then kick in to show information. The eyewear is also expected to provide street-level navigation, and even video recording, which could make them the ideal covert video capture device!
For those who aren’t too sure, Augmented Reality, or AR, is a technology that can take a real world surrounding, and overlay a digital source. For example, a product could use cameras to feed your actual surroundings to a screen in front of your face, and Augmented Reality software could throw in digital elements such as animals or surroundings. We’ve seen this done with products like Vuzix’s AR eyewear before.
How soon can we expect to see this sort of technology? Well, AR tech has been around for a while, but it seems Google’s product will be going on sale this year. Unnamed Google employees recently confirmed to the New York Times that the product would launch later this year, costing “around the price of current smartphones”. Of course, you can pick up a smartphone for as little as £100 nowadays, though most fall into the price range of £300-£500, and that’s the price range we think Google will be aiming for.
With a large share in the smartphone market thanks to its Android operating system, it’s highly likely that this product will pair with your Android smartphone using Bluetooth or NFC to provide a feed of your text messages, Facebook and Twitter updates and perhaps even more.
Are you excited for this type of product? What would you like to be able to see in your Google Goggles?
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Source: NY Times