Our source seems to think that a lot of people were critical and “hating” the conceptual design of Google’s Glass – so much so they were wondering if it could cause problems when it comes to actually launching the product. Google has filed MANY patents with regards to their Glass project that hint of many possible designs. The latest US patent 8,705,177 B1, which was granted to Google on the 22nd of April this year, is another example of the more traditional eyeglass look – hiding the Glass components and tucking them neatly around a normal looking pair of glasses.
When a company designs any new product – from a car to Glass – the final design is never revealed at the beginning of the project. Sometimes this is to confuse the competition from what the final product will look like and other times the designers want to leave open their options as they add more features or possibly find out that they need to moved parts around. It is much easier to do this with a ‘skeleton’ type of design where changes can quickly be made and tested, rather than retooling the final product.
The Patent Abstract, or description of the Patent goes into detail:
“A head mounted display (“HMD”) includes a frame assembly for wearing on a head of a user and an integrated display module mounted to the frame assembly within a peripheral viewing region of an eye of the user when the HMD is worn by the user. The integrated display module includes a display source for outputting a computer generated image (“CGI”), a lens system optically aligned with the display source to focus the CGI emitted from the integrated display module towards the eye, and an actuator coupled to adjust a focal distance of the lens system for changing an image depth of the CGI displayed to the user.”
This sounds exactly like they are describing what the current Glass does, only in a new look and design. This type of design makes sense with Google tapping famous eyeglass designer, Luxottica – known for working with Oakley, Ray-Ban and Vogue Outwear – to work with Google to help design eye wear. Google is smart enough to know that ‘Star Trek’ type glasses may turn people off from either buying them or wanting to wear them all of the time. This more traditional look should help Google sell Glass to practically anybody willing to part with the cash.
Please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know how you feel about Glass – could you care less about the project, concerned for your privacy, or will you be first in line to buy a pair…as always, we would love to hear from you.