# What ever happened to Google Glass? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963 "2014-09-30T13:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/21 "2014-10-01T02:23:11Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Well, my company is prototyping this functionality: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji\_W9g-TwlM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji_W9g-TwlM) > > It’s early in the process, but it has a lot of potential. Man, GG was be an absolute perfect fit for my job! I’m on my feet 24/7 yet I need constant access to a computer. But I get the sense that my company would sooner buy us a “company prostitute” before they would buy us a GG. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/22 "2014-10-01T09:16:42Z")
It takes a while for new technology - \*actual \*new technology, like this - to catch on. Remember, they had cellphones in the 1980’s; it took a decade for them to start being adopted by the general public and only after they had undergone significant upgrades. The Google Glass is the current equivalent of the [brick phone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC); we’ll have to wait a few years before we get something that’s actually mass-market ready (and will probably be indistinguishable from regular glasses). ---
**Author:** ![Crazier\_Catlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Crazier\_Catlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazier_Catlady)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/23 "2014-10-01T11:06:08Z")
Never mind regular glasses, they’re working on contact lenses that can do pretty much the same things. So someone could then be recording you and you’d never know unless you were looking them in the eye. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/24 "2014-10-01T12:00:11Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > As glass gets more apps, more use in industry, and the price point drops, I can see it replacing cell phones and people will wonder 20 years from now “what did we do without this?” the same way we wonder that about cell phones and computers now. First, they’re going to have to come up with a version you can wear with prescription glasses. The current versions can’t - which is a big “F you” to those of us who need prescription lenses and for whom either surgery (yeah, great, I have to have _surgery_ to use this tech toy? WTF?) or contacts are not an option. Ditto for industrial applications where protective eyewear is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/25 "2014-10-01T12:10:21Z")
Edinburgh Airport in the UK are using the headsets in a [trial scheme this year.](http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/airport-staff-in-the-public-eye-with-first-trial-of-google-glass.25474057) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/26 "2014-10-01T12:11:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It takes a while for new technology - \*actual \*new technology, like this - to catch on. Remember, they had cellphones in the 1980’s; it took a decade for them to start being adopted by the general public and only after they had undergone significant upgrades. The Google Glass is the current equivalent of the [brick phone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_DynaTAC); we’ll have to wait a few years before we get something that’s actually mass-market ready (and will probably be indistinguishable from regular glasses). Precisely this. Google Glass was never truly intended as a consumer product as is, it’s an advanced prototype that was distributed to people to showcase and test the technology. But I can see why people are skeptical, Google is obviously a stupid company that can’t perceive that they would need to incorporate this feature into standard type eyewear. :rolleyes: Obviously they intend to stop further development and just shove this version down people throats because that would be what a successful company would do. You can show people the future, but you can’t make them like it. More fun to just make fun of it and do some name calling. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/27 "2014-10-01T15:26:57Z")
It would be quite difficult to build the Glass technology into something that looked like just any other pair of glasses, and impossible with anything remotely resembling current technology to do it with contact lenses. Humans can’t focus on something as close as the lens of a pair of glasses, so you need to use various optics to put the image further away, at least a foot or two. And unless you’re using holography (which is far, far away from being able to produce imagery on the fly, as would be needed for a computer display), that means you need a certain amount of space to fit those optics in. You’d have a much easier time replacing the eyeball entirely with a prosthetic. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/28 "2014-10-01T16:44:33Z")
I had an idea for Google Glass a while ago: a facial-recognition prosthesis. In a world where my phone is better at recognizing people than I am, it would be nice to have something that would look at the people I am looking at and pop up a reminder along the lines of, “This is Bob, VP of Sales. You’ve met him once before.” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/29 "2014-10-01T17:00:09Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I had an idea for Google Glass a while ago: a facial-recognition prosthesis. In a world where my phone is better at recognizing people than I am, it would be nice to have something that would look at the people I am looking at and pop up a reminder along the lines of, “This is Bob, VP of Sales. You’ve met him once before.” They already have that. (Sans the you met him previously thing. That would a nice feature.) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/30 "2014-10-01T17:40:27Z")
Whatever happened to Bluetooth earpieces? They seemed to be pretty common about a decade ago. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/31 "2014-10-01T18:18:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > First, they’re going to have to come up with a version you can wear with prescription glasses. The current versions can’t - which is a big “F you” to those of us who need prescription lenses and for whom either surgery (yeah, great, I have to have _surgery_ to use this tech toy? WTF?) or contacts are not an option. Ditto for industrial applications where protective eyewear is needed. They came out with that a few months ago. You have to [get special frames](http://www.google.com/glass/help/frames/) that originally cost an extra $225 (and which are not very fashionable in my opinion). It appears the frames are now available [at no extra cost](https://glass.google.com/getglass/shop/glass). You also need special lenses that cost who-knows-how-much. They recommend using Glass with lenses no stronger than +/- 4.0 diopters. My current prescription for one eye is -4.25, but I could get by with -4.0 if I really wanted to buy Glass (which I don’t). ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/32 "2014-10-01T19:26:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Agree. > > But I think the key thing about Glass is not that I’m hostile to the idea of having one myself. I’m hostile to other people around me having it thereby enabling Google HQ to record my movements without my permission. > > Whether somebody else has a dumb phone, a smart phone, or not is mostly their concern. I really don’t care one way or the other. Yes, many of those devices have cameras, but people aren’t continuously using them for continuous recording. But with GG those people are acting as data gathering platforms targeting me, that’s when I take notice. > > And I think idea will be the central objection to GG and similar systems. Just get one of those anti-googleglass repellers. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/33 "2014-10-01T19:35:31Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Whatever happened to Bluetooth earpieces? They seemed to be pretty common about a decade ago. They are still around but in general a couple of things happened. One is that people don’t like to have to recharge theses type of things. Many people just don’t talk as much on the phone anymore, they text and send send Facebook messages. I still have a pair of stereo one I use when I want to listen to music, never did care much for the single ear Borg like device. Just about as ugly as the present google glass IMO. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/34 "2014-10-01T21:13:36Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Whatever happened to Bluetooth earpieces? They seemed to be pretty common about a decade ago. You’ll see dozens of people wearing them and talking into them in most airports. I’m talking passengers, not employees. I think they’re more common than 10 years ago, not less. Not hugely more common, but somewhat. I also see people walking around downtown areas or in office buildings during the workday with them. I think they’re probably not as common with kids in the mall as they used to be; that crowd is more into texting & wired music-listening to and rather less phone-yakking than was previously the case. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/35 "2014-10-01T23:11:28Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > They came out with that a few months ago. You have to [get special frames](http://www.google.com/glass/help/frames/) that originally cost an extra $225 (and which are not very fashionable in my opinion). It appears the frames are now available [at no extra cost](https://glass.google.com/getglass/shop/glass). You also need special lenses that cost who-knows-how-much. They recommend using Glass with lenses no stronger than +/- 4.0 diopters. My current prescription for one eye is -4.25, but I could get by with -4.0 if I really wanted to buy Glass (which I don’t). In my opinion, $225 isn’t unreasonable for titanium frames. My titaniums cost more, although they also are, in my opinion, a heck of a lot more attractive (or were, when I purchased them 15 years ago. They’ve acquired some wear in the meanwhile). Googeglass is overpriced enough I can see them folded the frame cost into the overall cost. Unfortunately, my good side is at -8 diopters. So still no go for me although I view it as a move to accommodate the less than perfect so the direction is positive. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/36 "2014-10-01T23:20:56Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > I think this is something that will change with time as more people use them. I remember people being concerned about the ‘creep’ factor when cell phones got cameras 10 years ago. Now people won’t even look at a phone if it doesn’t have a camera (luddites excluded :)) As much as I love technology in general and my smart phone in particular, I can’t see this ever happening with Google Glass. It’s been some years now since Sergei Brin suggested that it was somehow “[emasculating](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/sergey-brin-emasculating_n_2776389.html)” to interact with the screen of your smart phone; but then as now it seemed like a desperate attempt to invent a “problem” which Google Glass would fix. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/37 "2014-10-02T00:20:56Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > In my opinion, $225 isn’t unreasonable for titanium frames. My titaniums cost more, although they also are, in my opinion, a heck of a lot more attractive From your other posts you seem to be reasonable and intelligent. You really spent serious money of attractive titanium frames? I want inexpensive and serviceable. Hell, the [starship Voyager](http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/295/e/5/intrepid_class_ortho___uss_voyager_by_unusualsuspex-d6qlj8e.jpg) is made from titanium. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/38 "2014-10-02T00:49:27Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You’ll see dozens of people wearing them and talking into them in most airports. I’m talking passengers, not employees. > > I think they’re more common than 10 years ago, not less. Not hugely more common, but somewhat. I also see people walking around downtown areas or in office buildings during the workday with them. > > I think they’re probably not as common with kids in the mall as they used to be; that crowd is more into texting & wired music-listening to and rather less phone-yakking than was previously the case. Maybe they’re just more common by you, last person I saw wearing one was a courier and that was a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/39 "2014-10-02T02:00:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Whether somebody else has a dumb phone, a smart phone, or not is mostly their concern. I really don’t care one way or the other. Yes, many of those devices have cameras, but people aren’t continuously using them for continuous recording. But with GG those people are acting as data gathering platforms targeting me, that’s when I take notice. In simple terms, to use your cellphone/smartphone/tablet camera, you have to point the device at what/who you are recording and someone who is watching you will notice it. People may then take exception to those actions and ask you to leave them out of it. It has been understood, for instance, that a business owner can tell you to put cameras or recording devices away when in their premises, and show you the door if you do not comply. Yet there have been incidents of “glassholes” claiming it’s some sort of right to use the device at will in those same spaces. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963/40 "2014-10-02T03:03:08Z")
Do any of you watch the Elders React series on youtube? They did one on Google Glass that was interesting. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xw95AZzPpsU/hqdefault.jpg "ELDERS REACT TO GOOGLE GLASS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw95AZzPpsU) > [@Broomstick](#): > > First, they’re going to have to come up with a version you can wear with prescription glasses. The current versions can’t - which is a big “F you” to those of us who need prescription lenses and for whom either surgery (yeah, great, I have to have _surgery_ to use this tech toy? WTF?) or contacts are not an option. Ditto for industrial applications where protective eyewear is needed. I don’t understand your hostility here. Is everybody that makes something you can’t use yet saying “fuck you” to you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ever-happened-to-google-glass/699963.md?page=3)