back to article Google's new Glass: Now with audio connection INSIDE the SKULL

Google has posted two images of the next generation of its much-mocked Glass wearable tech, revealing for the first time the direction it plans to go for future versions of the product. Photo of Google Glass version 2 Meet the new Glass ... mostly very similar to the old Glass The photos appeared on the Glass team's Google …

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  1. Dave 52

    Only people with incredible self confidence and no sense of style would put this on their face.

    1. Eddy Ito

      Clearly you don't buy groceries anywhere near where I do. Most people there don't really care what they wear unless you call slippers, sweatpants and a hoodie over pajama tops stylish. I wouldn't say they have incredible self confidence since it seems more an attitude of surrender and apathy. Of course that might change later in the day after they had some coffee in them but I wouldn't put money on it.

      1. Pet Peeve

        In the US, you see people at the grocery store wearing freaking pajamas and yoga pants. Admittedly the latter can have its charms (if the wearer does), but "style" and "class" are not much of a factor in public anymore.

        Sometimes that's a shame (you wish people would at least wash and comb their hair), but on the other hand, the days are over where someone would look at your feet and infer your social standing from how nice your shoes are.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Reminds me of the time I was sent a brown jumper at Christmas in 1981, it was awful but I was forced to wear it by my parents......... The only saving grace was that I put my coat over the top of it during the Christmas dinner.

    3. Pet Peeve

      Exactly what is so terrible looking about them? They're certainly more attractive than a bluetooth headset.

      1. silent_count

        "They're certainly more attractive than a bluetooth headset."

        I believe it was Simon Travaglia who absolutely nailed it when he described the bluetooth headset wearers a half-cyborg, half-wanker. That's the description which springs to mind when looking at the google glassy-thingys. They're trying too hard! If they avoided trying to make it's wearers look like half-cyborgs, they'd probably avoid the full-wanker look.

        If they looked like a cheapo pair of sunnies you'd buy at a petrol station, nobody would notice them... which, I guess, defeats the primary purpose of buying a $1500 pair of sunnies.

        1. Pet Peeve

          There's a couple problems with them looking like ordinary sunglasses. First, the whole idea of the display being up high is so that you can maintain eye contact, and it's immediately apparent when in real life someone isn't paying attention to you (their eyes go up and to the right). The other problem is that you then won't KNOW that someone is wearing them. The second brings up some SFnal social ideas, let me expand on that a bit.

          I think there should be some signal that a person is connected. How many times have we seen some apparently-crazy person talking to themselves, when it was just a bluetooth headset in the ear opposite us (making the person merely douchey rather than insane)? A standard bit of design language (say, a curved bit of metal over both eyebrows, like the non-display parts of the Glass headset) would tell you that this person may not be talking to you. This replaces the now-missing social signal of the person holding their hand to their ear.

          It also offers another possibility - as a warning that everything you do around this person is being recorded. With current cams (and I know the UK is hog-wild for them), they really only can be used AGAINST you. With a device that's always recording, quickly sending the result to a network store on write-once media, you would have a permanent first-person view of everything you do. If someone assaults you (or claims you assaulted them), you have perfect evidence to defend yourself. If you are witness to a crime, you can come forward as a witness, and give the officer a first-person replay of the event exactly as it happened, instead of how you THINK it happened. If you're suspected of a crime, your record will show exactly where you were at the time.

          Of course, someone else can wear your glasses. Solution? Be standing in front of a mirror when you put them on, establishing it's you, and then the glasses themselves will confirm they weren't removed since the last time you authenticated yourself. Kind of cool, huh?

        2. cyrus

          Re:

          Never go full-wanker. Every one knows that.

      2. Euripides Pants
        Thumb Down

        They remind me of hearing aid eyeglasses of the 1950's.

        http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/did/win_20th/eyeglasses.htm

      3. Phil.T.Tipp
        Facepalm

        lol srsly?

        The bluetooth headset is surely the cringe-worthy territory of sweaty van man, bloaty taxi driver and sales-rep middley-management BMW stressed-guy. None of whom are attractive role models.

        The Goggleglass will also no-doubt, in time - in a ruthless race to the bottom - find its own unattractive niche. Most probably on the roundly-punched heads of narcissistic fashionistas and their polar-opposites, the self-unaware über-nerds, but also on sweaty van-man, bloaty taxi driver and of course the BMW jockeys. None of whom are attractive role models.

    4. JDX Gold badge

      Style is subjective. Even in the same time and same city, widely disparate things are seen as stylish by different groups.

      I don't see them being stupid looking as many want to claim... to me they look exactly like what we've been seeing in SciFi for decades. To many, bringing SciFi into the real world is cool.

      In a few years nobody will look twice.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        In a few years the images will be directly fed to your brain or optically excited via self aligning nano overlays on the back of the eye (which comes in as part of research into blindness).

        Google will concentrate on the visual cortex, Apple will invent a third eye in the centre of the forehead and Microsoft will be pushed up your arse, much like now.

  2. Malcolm Weir Silver badge

    @Dave 52: People stick weird things in their ears and wander around apparently talking to themselves. It may not be "stylish" (but style, like taste, is subjective, so who are you or I to judge?), but it is effective at doing the job that people want done.

    Another, even more remarkable, fact is that apparently people voluntarily stick devastatingly ugly things on their faces and stare at TV's, in the idea that 3D illusions apparently enhance the viewing experience.

    In both cases, the key issue seems to be whether the perceived benefit exceeds the blow to their fashion sense.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I laugh out loud

    Every time I see some numpty wearing google glass and trying to look 'normal'. Idiot tech for idiot people.

    1. Pet Peeve

      Re: I laugh out loud

      Every time I see some anonymous coward calling someone "numpty", I think "what a twatwaffle" and ignore anything they say.

      1. Stevie

        Re: I laugh out loud

        "Every time I see some anonymous coward calling someone "numpty", I think "what a twatwaffle" and ignore anything they say."

        I have exactly the same reaction to "SFnal".

        1. Pet Peeve

          Re: I laugh out loud

          Ouch! Point taken.

  4. Captain DaFt

    One thing puzzles me.

    Why just the right eye?

    Is there some study that shows that the right eye is better? Is it the dominate eye in most people?

    Or is it just that wearing it on the right looks cooler, and it's cheaper just to make one version for everybody?

    No snark, just curious as to why they settled on the right side for the viewer.

    1. Banananas

      Re: One thing puzzles me.

      Yes it's the dominant eye, same for flight huds. No use for weirdos like me who have a stronger left eye. That would give me a serious headache

      1. James Micallef Silver badge

        Re: One thing puzzles me.

        Economies of scale. Once it's ready for production I'm sure they will produce a 'leftie' version if there's enough demand.

  5. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Alien

    Resistance is futile

    You will be assimilated...

  6. Alfred 2
    Unhappy

    There are so many ...

    ... criticisms I could make of these glasses. Why then do I want them?

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: There are so many ...

      I don't know, but we were saying the same of smartphones and then touch-screen phones, and now we all have them.

  7. Cliff

    Earpiece good idea

    Bone conduction had limitations, the transducer has to deal with the skin covering the skull, and a lot of sound gets lost. It sounds way better if you cover your ears to reduce leakage!

  8. Richard 81

    "Google has also said that the new hardware will support "future lines of shades and prescription frames," making them more accessible for users who already use other eyewear."

    I really don't see how.

    1. Big_Ted
      Happy

      Clip on like sunglasses of course......

  9. Shaun 2

    Want One

    I want one for my Iron Man build :)

  10. Big_Ted
    Devil

    Well I hope they allow for people like me......

    As I am almost deaf in one ear I will need to be able to have a longer lead available as a free option the same as those with little or no sight in the right eye or we will not be getting one and Google will undoubtedly be sued by some American over it.....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Well I hope they allow for people like me......

      You don't understand: imperfect people like us are meant to join the Brave New World with the beautiful ones, the Explorers!

  11. WaveyDavey

    Leftie version

    Is there a left-handed version? Three close relatives have deaf/poor hearing right ears, looks like plug won't reach other side. Also, people with visual impairment of right eye look to be stuffed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Leftie version

      What if your right eye has poor vision but your right ear is better? You need a leftie Glass with a long earbud wire? Or a Bluetooth earpiece?

    2. David Glasgow

      Re: Leftie version

      O h for goodness sake man! Just put them on upside down.

  12. Dieter Haussmann

    They look dangerous, if you got hit in the face, the nose rests would gauge your eyes out.

  13. Moffy

    Idiot tech?

    I want one for use commuting on a motorbike in London. The ability to record video, take pics, check mapping and send messages without having to change device or have multiple devices makes it a no-brainer for such use. There are helmets with HUD, there are phones with earpieces, but to be able to control it all without hassle pushes Glass to the fore of the list.

    Just wish they'd hurry up and release them in UK

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Idiot tech?

      Thankfully for other road users they've already been banned in the UK.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Idiot tech?

        And the first woman has been ticketed for wearing them in the US.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          @AC 10:49GMT - Re: Idiot tech?

          Wearing then while speeding, in case you missed it.

      2. Ian Yates

        Re: Idiot tech?

        Was there a specific reason given? I don't really see the difference between this and people using a hands-free kit while having their satnav on their windscreen.

        From what I've seen, some of the really fancy cars will even pop up your texts and emails on the central satnav screen... What does Glass do that's so different?

        1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

          @Ian Re: Idiot tech?

          Who needs a reason? It's always been the case that government in this country likes to ban things without understanding what they are, purely on the basis that they're new and different.

        2. Dan 55 Silver badge

          Re: Idiot tech?

          Distraction...

          Whilst you can ignore a car screen, you can't really ignore Glass.

          1. Ian Yates

            Re: Idiot tech?

            Thanks for the link.

            Interestingly, it mentions the first thought I had: "Technology fans argue that Glass, which displays simple, monochrome information in the wearer's peripheral vision, is less distracting than satellite navigation tools that include a visual interface designed to be used while driving."

            I don't get the logic behind it, but then I'm not a law-maker, so it's not my position to.

            1. Stevie

              Re: Idiot tech?

              "Interestingly, it mentions the first thought I had: "Technology fans argue that Glass, which displays simple, monochrome information in the wearer's peripheral vision, is less distracting than satellite navigation tools that include a visual interface designed to be used while driving."

              Oh yeah? Well, my wife had a pair of progressive lenses through which she could clearly see the zone information (small letters/numbers burned into the lenses by laser in the peripheral area where "no-one can see it") and she nearly drove off the road trying to ignore it.

              Googleglass and driving won't mix well and I for one don't want to be sideswiped by some dweeb who thinks differently any more than I want to dig another car out of my front lawn that is there because the young person driving was too busy trying to set the stereo controls on the GUI to, you know, *drive*.

              I'm at three new fences and counting, and I turn up bits of sharp plastic every time I mow the lawn and the earth spits out someone's brakelights or spoiler (in pieces).

              Take your technology off: When driving, in the bar and at the urinal. To do otherwise is asking for trouble.

        3. lotus49

          Re: Idiot tech?

          Californian Law prohibits having a visible monitor on while driving. There is an exception for GPS though.

          She is apparently appealing although I have no idea how successful that appeal is likely to be.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Idiot tech?

            Interestingly, the effect of the Google Glass appears to be to make the female model's eyes abnormally large, though the male model is unaffected.

            That, or Photoshop.

        4. Stevie

          Re: Was there a specific reason given?

          Probably. You can't just write out a ticket with no reason on it unless you are just going through the motions to up the number of tickets written without upping the number of cases lost (happens in one area of Brooklyn apparently). A ticket with no cause on it will be dismissed out of hand.

          My guess would be that they got the Googlegoggler for wearing a headphone while driving. It's illegal in many places to do that.

          It's actually illegal to play your car radio too loudly in New York and most "hot" in-car systems qualify for a collaring, but the police won't write tickets for that, I imagine for fear of being accused of profiling.

          I'm not surprised this Googleglass idiocy is frowned upon. Just wearing Googleglass is an indication of some without DC&A action in the future. Reading anything is too much of a distraction while driving and that *does* include in-car GUIs which should be made illegal. There's a reason why moving automotive controls were not deemed a good idea back before portable computers. People drive into the scenery hunting for windshield wiper and headlight controls on unfamiliar cars as it is.

          You want to do email and read the news while you commute, use mass transit and give the bystanders and the other road users a break.

      3. Moffy

        Re: Idiot tech?

        Thankfully? for other road users?! I will smile politely at your ignorance of the subject.. Rofl.. Just because a piece of equipment has multiple uses, doesnt mean it will in anyway endanger others, or even affect the road user using it. Ever ridden a motorbike? the wind and general noise inside your helmet will make the use of voice commands impossible when youre riding along.. which is why we wear earplugs.. Commands would have to be done at a stop, which would make sense and be an indirect safety feature.

        So starting off, start the vid and record the journey, see an accident in front and you can then stop (safe location.) provide details and save the video for future use maybe. okay so the accident stopped you for a fair few minutes.. youre wearing gloves, helmet, etc no probs. a quick message via glass to the office that youre running late and you can get back on your bike.... taking a detour you seem to recall. Stopped at a set of lights you just check that one more time.. 'glass wtf am i..' Up pops the hud and yes, it is this way.. lights change and off you ride again. no stopping to pull off gloves, search for phones, satnav adjustment or anything else. you maintain full control during the ride with no distractions bar the pillock in the car who crashed.. whilst probably reading a whatsapp message on his iphone.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          @Moffy - Re: Idiot tech?

          Can't you just ride your bike without all this crap ?

        2. Stevie

          Re: Googlespex and The Accident Witness.

          [4 Moffy] Well, there are hundreds of helmetcams out there and have been for yonks. How many helmetcams have been used in resolving fault in accidents as opposed to (say) uploading wheelie flix on YooToob? I know which side of that equation my money would be on.

          Seems to me that the biker ethos would sort of mandate against using these lame never-without-my-tech devices, but what do I know? No doubt even real men use electric starters these days and have continuous ratio changeless gearboxes between their feet.

          DUM DADUM DUM DUM DA DUM DUM

          Get yer glasses booted

          DA DA DA DUM DA

          Head out on the highway

          DA DA DA DUM DA

          Someone's sent an email

          DA DA DA DUM DA

          And a picture of their caAAAAARRRGGGHHHsplutch!

  14. Tom 7

    You're going to need a full crash helmet

    if what happened to Bijan Ebrahimi is anything to go by.

  15. Martin
    Happy

    A friend of mine....

    ...saw someone wearing these at a conference last week. He watched with glee as the wearer walked straight into a pillar.

  16. DaneB
    FAIL

    Fail

    This mutation of the idea will fail.

    Something else, some years down the line, will be a success.

    They're just too flimsy / geeky / nickable / sad.

  17. meridius

    please

    I wouldn't be seen dead wearing one them.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Google Glarses

    The answer to: What does it take to make a pretty woman look ugly?

  19. FunkyEric

    Does anybody on this site actually have a pair of them?

    Or are *all* the comments completely unfounded rubbish?

  20. Herby

    Leftie version??

    Maybe the "leftie" version is only sold in the UK, Australia, and Japan (and New Zealand, Simon!).

    The big problem is that those of us advancing in age have this "feature" of the body called presbyopia which is ever advancing. There are problems with glasses being needed to read anything close at hand.

    Then there is the problem of encountering a policeman who doesn't take kindly to being "watched/recorded" and invents interpretations of laws to give you a citation.

    As for the citation: The same rules can be applied to having a TV turned off in your front seat. It IS a TV, and it IS visible by the driver, but it IS turned off (duh!).

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ageism

    It wouldn't hurt if the publicity pics featured someone over 30, or even someone rom an ethnic minority.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about photos of them on ugly, spotty geeks to show the reality?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  23. HippyFreetard

    I may be wrong.

    The only people I've seen legitimately wearing Bluetooth are taxi drivers. It makes sense there, but not really anywhere else. I just use my headphones to talk handsfree when I'm listening to music or something.

    There will be plenty of legitimate use for Glass, too. I imagine bike couriers might love them. Police and armed forces might find them useful. They may become ubiquitous for rock climbers. Then it will look normal for people to be wearing them

    My prediction is, if a "cool" profession or subculture adopts Glass, everyone else will. If not, it will probably fine a couple of niches to occupy, and we won't ever see it until we get pizza delivered, or we're going into surgery or something.

  24. Sebastian A
    Mushroom

    If people who look that good

    look that dorky wearing it, imagine the dorkpocalypse that'd happen if average plebs like us wore it.

    1. Phil.T.Tipp
      Thumb Up

      Re: If people who look that good

      +1 for dorkpocalypse

      Trademark that right away :o)

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Glasshole 2.0

    'nuff said.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As if people in IT are not seperated from reality already

    So the upgrade is to have Google not only in your field of vision but in your hearing too?, as someone who works all day looking at things which don't physically exist, and spends a lot of time looking at them outside of work on various devices this would only further my separation from the real world which I'm already trying to compensate for by doing actual real things.

    This will only allow the march of technology into areas where you could previously escape it (see the initial glass ad which seemed to consist solely of people using them doing outdoorsy and extreme sports stuff.

    (Until you inevitably get hit by the bus you didn't see/hear bus, final scene of Scary movie style)

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