What is Google Glass?

Google Glass is the latest technology that works in conjunction with a smart phone.  This wearable piece of technology, in the from of eye glasses, has a tiny screen projection that hovers in front of your face, uses voice commands to communicate and has a Logic board similar to that found in a smartphone. It runs Google’s Android OS that is built into a frame with an integrated battery and has a heads up display. The entire device consists of a projector, prism, cameras, microphone and audio speakers.

To turn Google Glass on, just tap the “touchpad.” By swiping the “touch pad” on the side of the frames, one can change settings and access new features.  The display positioned above the user’s line of sight can be adjusted manually, similar to a rear-view mirror in a car and displays the first “card” which projects the current time and the words “Okay Glass,” which is the control command.

In the display panel there are other useful cards accessible with a swipe of the touchpad, with features such as weather, calendar, contact and flight information. The sequence of the cards and how they operate is simple and logical. Cards from to the right of the home screen are content from the past, including messages, videos or photos, while card to the left are for future events, like  the calendar.

A Second Pair of Eyes:

A popular feature of the Google Glass is its photo and video technology, see can literally share what you are seeing and doing. This device captures a decently sharp 5-mega pixel image and can record 10 seconds of video in 720p. It uses Wifi and Bluetooth to connect to smart phones, including the iPhone. Currently it does not have a cellular radio built in but can make phone calls using the Blue-Tooth enabled on your smart phone.

Google Glass: The Next Generation

Although its not scheduled for consumer release until mid 2014, Google has now released its long awaited Google Glass to developers and the first test videos are in. Alexander Chen, Creative Director at Google  Creative Lab in New York, created an artistic music video and commented that  “This [was] a little experiment with a viola and Glass. I thought it would be fun to create a song by layering short video loops. So I spent an afternoon improvising melodies, filming it on Google Glass. Then I pieced it all together into a small orchestra.”

Device Stats From BuyGoogleGlass.com:

These will probably use a translucent AMOLED display that will function as a HUD in front of the eye. It will have an inbuilt GPS, Compass (to know where you’re facing), 4G connection as well as a accelerometer and voice recognition for Input/output of data.

• Adjustable nosepads and durable frame, with two sized of extra nosepads
• High resolution display (equivalent of a 25-inch high definition screen about eight feet away)
• 5-megapixel camera capable of recording videos at 720p
• 16GB Flash memory (with 12GB usable), synced with Google cloud storage
• Bone Conduction Transducer audio
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Bluetooth (version not specified)
• Battery: One full day of typical use
• Micro USB cable and charger
• Compatible with any Bluetooth-enabled phone