Google Glass


Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a discontinued brand of smart glasses developed by Google's X Development, with a mission of producing a ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using a head-up display. Wearers communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands.
Google started selling a prototype of Google Glass to qualified "Glass Explorers" in the US on June 27, 2012, for a limited period for $1,500,, before it became available to the public on April 15, 2014. It has an integrated 5 megapixel still/720p video camera. The headset received a great deal of criticism amid concerns that its use could violate existing privacy laws.
On January 15, 2015, Google announced that it would stop producing the Google Glass prototype. The prototype was succeeded by two Enterprise Editions, whose sales were suspended on March 15, 2023. More than a decade later, Google would return to the extended reality space with Android XR, an operating system that will power headsets and smartglasses.

Development and release

Google Glass was developed by Google X, the facility within Google devoted to technological advancements such as driverless cars.
The Google Glass prototype resembled standard eyeglasses with the lens replaced by a head-up display. In mid-2011, Google engineered a prototype that weighed ; by 2013 they were lighter than the average pair of sunglasses.
The product was publicly announced in April 2012. Google co-founder Sergey Brin wore a prototype of the Glass to an April 5, 2012, Foundation Fighting Blindness event in San Francisco. In May 2012, Google demonstrated for the first time how Google Glass could be used to shoot videos.
In a demo presented by Brin at the Google I/O conference in June 2012, four skydivers wearing Google Glass jumped from a blimp and landed on the roof of the Moscone Center, with the glasses livestreaming their descent for the audience. It was announced that the beta version of the glasses, dubbed the "Explorer Edition" would be made available exclusively for pre-order for the developers and programmers in attendance for $1,500.
In February 2013, interested potential Glass users were invited to submit an entry via Twitter or Google+, with hashtag #IfIHadGlass, to qualify for a chance to win access to purchase Google Glass Explorer Edition. The 8,000 selected qualifiers, dubbed "Glass Explorers," were notified in March 2013, and would be required to visit one of three Google pop-up shops in Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco to purchase the glasses, still priced at $1,500, following "fitting" and training from Google Glass guides.
The purchases of this prototype version, both those from the conference and those from the contest, began distribution on April 16, 2013.
In January of 2014, Google introduced four frame choices for prescription lenses for an additional $225 each. In March, Google also entered in a partnership with Luxottica, the Italian eyeware company which owns Ray-Ban, Oakley, and other brands, to offer additional frame designs.
Google briefly opened purchase of Google Glass to the general public in the US, first on April 15, 2014, reporting that the relatively limited stock sold out in a single day, and then again a month later on May 14. In June, Google Glass was also made available for consumers in the United Kingdom, priced at £1,000.
In January 2015, Google announced the end of the Google Glass Explorer beta program and halted sales of the product. In February 2015, The New York Times reported that Google Glass was being redesigned by former Apple executive Tony Fadell, and that it would not be released until he deemed it to be "perfect".
In July 2017, it was announced that the second iteration, the Google Glass Enterprise Edition, which had been deployed for testing in factories of US companies such as Boeing and GE, would now be available for other companies. The new edition also featured several significant upgraded features, such as higher camera resolution and longer battery life. Google Glass Enterprise Edition has reportedly been successfully used by Dr. Ned Sahin to help children with autism learn social skills.
In May 2019, Google announced the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2. Google also announced a partnership with Smith Optics to develop Glass-compatible safety frames.

Features

  • Touchpad: A touchpad, similar to that of one on a laptop, is located on the side of Google Glass, allowing users to control the device by swiping through a timeline-like interface displayed on the screen. Sliding backward shows current events, such as weather, and sliding forward shows past events, such as phone calls, photos, and circle updates.
  • Camera: Google Glass has the ability to take 5 MP photos and record 720p HD video. Glass Enterprise Edition 2 has an improved 8MP 80° FOV camera.
  • Display: The Explorer version of Google Glass uses a liquid crystal on silicon, field-sequential color system, LED illuminated display. The display's LED illumination is first P-polarized and then shines through the in-coupling polarizing beam splitter to the LCoS panel. The panel reflects the light and alters it to S-polarization at active pixel sensor sites. The in-coupling PBS then reflects the S-polarized areas of light at 45° through the out-coupling beam splitter to a collimating reflector at the other end. Finally, the out-coupling beam splitter reflects the collimated light another 45° and into the wearer's eye.

    Software

Applications

Google Glass applications are free applications built by third-party developers. Glass also uses many existing Google applications, such as Google Maps and Gmail. Many developers and companies built applications for Glass, including news apps, facial recognition, exercise, photo manipulation, translation, and sharing to social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Third-party applications announced at South by Southwest include Evernote, Skitch, The New York Times, and Path.
On March 23, 2013, Google released the Mirror API, allowing developers to start making apps for Glass. In the terms of service, it was stated that developers may not put ads in their apps or charge fees; a Google representative told The Verge that this might change in the future.
On May 16, 2013, Google announced the release of seven new programs, including reminders from Evernote, fashion news from Elle, and news alerts from CNN. Following Google's XE7 Glass Explorer Edition update in early July 2013, evidence of a "Glass Boutique", a store that will allow synchronization to Glass of Glassware and APKs, was noted.
Version XE8 made a debut for Google Glass on August 12, 2013. It brings an integrated video player with playback controls, the ability to post an update to Path, and lets users save notes to Evernote. Several other minute improvements include volume controls, improved voice recognition, and several new Google Now cards.
On November 19, 2013, Google unveiled its Glass Development Kit, showcasing the translation tool Word Lens, the cooking program AllTheCooks, and the exercise program Strava among others as successful examples. Google announced three news programs in May 2014—TripIt, FourSquare and OpenTable—in order to entice travelers. On June 25, 2014, Google announced that notifications from Android Wear would be sent to Glass.
The European University Press published the first book to be read with Google Glass on October 8, 2014, as introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The book can be read as a normal paper book or—enriched with multimedia elements—with Google Glass, Kindle, on Smartphone and Pads on the platforms iOS and Android.

MyGlass

Google offered a companion Android and iOS app called MyGlass, which allowed the user to configure and manage the device. It was removed from the Play Store on February 22, 2020.

Voice activation

Other than the touchpad, Google Glass can be controlled using just "voice actions". To activate Glass, wearers tilt their heads 30° upward or simply tap the touchpad, and say "O.K., Glass." Once Glass is activated, wearers can say an action, such as "Take a picture", "Record a video", "Hangout with ", "Google 'What year was Wikipedia founded?'", "Give me directions to the Eiffel Tower", and "Send a message to John". For search results that are read back to the user, the voice response is relayed using bone conduction through a transducer that sits beside the ear, thereby rendering the sound almost inaudible to other people.

Use in medicine

In hospitals

Augmedix developed an app for the wearable device that allows physicians to live-stream the patient visit and claims it will eliminate electronic health record problems, possibly saving them up to 15 hours a week and improving record quality. The video stream is passed to remote scribes in HIPAA secure rooms where the doctor-patient interaction is transcribed, ultimately allowing physicians to focus on the patient. Hundreds of users were evaluating the app as of mid-2015.
In July 2013, Lucien Engelen commenced research on the usability and impact of Google Glass in the health care field. As of August 2013, Engelen, based at Singularity University and in Europe at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, was the first healthcare professional in Europe to participate in the Glass Explorer program. His research on Google Glass was conducted in operating rooms, ambulances, a trauma helicopter, general practice, and home care as well as the use in public transportation for visually or physically impaired. Research included taking pictures, videos streaming to other locations, dictating operative log, having students watch the procedures and tele-consultation through Hangout. Engelen documented his findings in blogs, videos, pictures, on Twitter, and on Google+, with research ongoing as of that date.
In June 2014, Google Glass' ability to acquire images of a patient's retina was publicly demonstrated for the first time at the Wilmer Clinical Meeting at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine by Dr. Aaron Wang and Dr. Allen Eghrari. This technique was featured on the cover of the Journal for Mobile Technology in Medicine for January 2015. Doctors Phil Haslam and Sebastian Mafeld demonstrated the first application of Google Glass in the field of interventional radiology. They demonstrated how Google Glass could assist a liver biopsy and fistulaplasty, and the pair stated that Google Glass has the potential to improve patient safety, operator comfort, and procedure efficiency in the field of interventional radiology.
In 2015, IOS Press published "Clinical and Surgical Applications of Smart Glasses" a research article written by a team at the Columbia University Medical Center Department of Neurosurgery's Cerebrovascular Laboratory. Under Neurosurgeon Dr. Sander E. Connolly, Stefan Mitrasinovic, Elvis Camacho, Nirali Trivedi, and others analyzed Google Glass's useful applications including hands-free photo and video documentation, telemedicine, Electronic Health Record retrieval and input, rapid diagnostic test analysis, education, and live broadcasting.
In 2017, Swiss researchers assessed in a randomized controlled trial the adherence of emergency team leaders to the American Heart Association's Pediatric Advanced Life Support guidelines by adapting and displaying them in Google Glasses during simulation-based pediatric cardiac arrest scenarios.