Google Glass captivated the tech world during its unveiling at the Google I/O developers conference back in the summer of 2012, and even though it remains a high priced developer focused item Google Glass is still chugging along with it having found many uses ranging from personal to professional and even educational. Even with all its wonder though and the fantastic things that can be done with Google Glass, it has yet to reach a level of readiness and production that puts it in reach of the consumer purchase status. We can say that it feels like forever having been over two years since the “technical” launch of the wearable tech, but all great things take time and there is still likely much to do before Google Glass is ready for the mainstream. Like revise bits and pieces of the actual design for example.
That seems to be what Google is still working towards as evidenced by this new patent that was spotted over on Quartz, showing what looks like a newly designed pair of Google Glass with just a few minor adjustments. As someone who has had their fair share of interactions with Glass both on an off their face, I find that this design pictured below is much more appealing and addresses some pain points that people have with the current model. One such issue it seems Google may be looking to fix with the design(if this patent design ends up being a final look)is the somewhat bulky and heavy piece on the back of the right side of the Glasses. In this seemingly new design that piece is gone, which is great as this was commonly a cause for irritation of many wearers during longer periods of time.
It also looks like they have added a textural material on the outside of the touch pad, and in this new design the touch pad as well as the prism(Google Glass’s display)is actually placed on the left side instead of on the right side like it is currently. We’re not sure if this will be a final revision when Glass is ready for the consumer market, but Google seems to at least be playing with the idea of switching the prism to be in view of the left eye. With the right price point, and this design which looks a little more like pair of glasses yet still distinguishable as a face worn computer, would you pick up a pair?