Google Glass has been a lot of things to a lot of people. Google has been running a special program called Explorers where people can get invites in order to buy Google Glass and test it out themselves. The biggest problem here wasn’t necessarily getting the invites, it was cost. At $1,500 Glass isn’t exactly priced for the mainstream, and while Google lifted the invitation restriction just two days ago so that everyone can buy Google Glass, the price hasn’t changed a bit. Design has also come into question in the past, with some people feeling like it isn’t slick enough or unobtrusive enough to be worn every day. Thankfully for those people we’ve seen a number of different design patents pop up lately, with some looking just like a normal pair of glasses would. Now it looks like Google is shaking up the Glass program even more by appointing a new head of Google Glass, Ivy Ross.
Ivy Ross comes to the Glass team from a design and marketing background, and has worked at companies like Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Bausch & Lomb, Gap and Art.com. The interesting thing about this mix is that these companies pretty much have to do exclusively with eyewear, watches or some sort of clothing, and the idea behind Google Glass melds together technology and fashion in one neat little package. Ross goes on to ask “Can technology be something that frees us up and keeps us in the moment, rather than taking us out of it?” This is the big idea behind Glass when it’s all boiled down, and it seems like she’s starting off on the right foot over at Google. She’ll be taking her post this coming Monday, May 19th, and we have a feeling she’ll be ushering in a new era of Google Glass that will be designed for all tastes and sold in all sorts of prices. This is the year of the wearable with platforms like Android Wear launching and devices like Google Glass, the LG G Watch and the Moto 360 all hitting the market as well. You can read her full text below, and we welcome her to the Google Glass team and can’t wait to see what she’s going to bring to the table.
“A letter to our Glass Explorers, from the head of Glass
My name is Ivy Ross, and I’m excited to be joining Google on Monday, May 19 to lead our Glass efforts. With your help, I look forward to answering the seemingly simple, but truly audacious questions Glass poses: Can technology be something that frees us up and keeps us in the moment, rather than taking us out of it? Can it help us look up and out at the world around us, and the people who share it with us? I have spent my career–Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Bausch & Lomb, Gap and, most recently, Art.com–at the intersection of design and marketing, trying to answer questions like this in different ways, for different products. But Glass is especially cool, as no one has really tried to answer them with a product like this before. That’s our job, Explorers! I’m just getting started on Glass, but, because of all of you, and your thoughtful and smart feedback, I feel like I have an incredible head start. And I look forward to learning even more from you, and experiencing Glass together.
Ivy Ross”