For all we have to say and know about Google Glass, there is still arguably an equal amount that we do not know about the product. For example, we have no idea what it will actually look like once it’s made ready for consumer purchase in a finalized state. We also don’t know what the final consumer ready cost will be, nor what all locations Google has planned for such a launch. There’s also the unknown factor of what all it will be capable of doing when it reaches that point of development. Currently it’s still in beta as the Explorer Program continues, and it is open to all US consumers who wish to now own a pair, but according to Babak Parviz it is still quite a ways off from being ready. It still has a long way to go he says. That of course is nothing new to those of us who have followed the life span of the device but it’s nice to hear from someone at Google say something that we’ve all been thinking for a while now.
Babak Parviz is a Google X director and until recently was the person heading up the Google Glass project. He started on the team and was one of the device’s creators, and although he has strong roots and a hopeful interest to see this project succeed, he is still open minded and states that he believes that Glass is only one of many possible options to how we as human beings can expand or transcend life beyond the mobile computing screens we currently hold in our hands. As an ever evolving mobile society on a global scale, there is a growing trend(or need depending on how you look at it)for a solution to providing people with ways to grab the data and information they would otherwise get from smartphones tablets or laptops. Glass does provide users with that option, and in a hands free state we might add, thanks to the heads up display form factor and connection to mobile data, but it’s hardly the only option going forward says according to Parviz, and we would have to agree.
As someone who was previously overseeing the project and was involved during its inception, Parviz explains that Glass although a culmination of things, saw part of its creation come from the idea of having immediate or near instantaneous access to information and data that we had a desire to obtain. Google Search is already embedded into many of our devices and we have lots of ways to perform a Google search to get that information, and it’s quick too. Glass began partly with posing the question of whether or not it would be possible to speed up that process. Not necessarily in the sense of the network moving at a faster pace, or the search algorithm grabbing the data faster, but by possibly cutting out a few steps that one would normally need to complete to get at the information they were seeking. Thus, after much thought and the bouncing around of ideas, Google Glass was born. It hardly looked back in the early stages like it does now, but then again it could be a far cry now in the design department from what it will look like once we can potentially buy it off the Play Store devices section.
Parviz also spoke about how they are able to see a glimpse of how Glass is actually starting to work out, mentioning an evolution of the products physical design as well as improvements in other areas like battery life and comfort. If you have never actually worn a pair of Glass, they’re not incredibly uncomfortable to wear, at least not for shorter periods of time. However if you have them on for extended, lengthy periods like all day for example, they can begin to feel a little irritating. That is also something true of many sets of over the ear headphones as well as many pairs of glasses/sunglasses. As far as battery life goes, anyone who owns a pair can probably tell you there is plenty of room for improvement here. That doesn’t mean that Google isn’t already developing ways to improve it and that we won’t see these things get better. For all the negativity that it may have already received due to privacy concerns and the occasional fear that it will turn us all into walking talking real-life cyborgs, Glass has and always will be something exciting as all technology usually is. The evolution of it is what’s really worth looking forward to.