FORGET YOUR smartphone – if internet giant Google has its way, we could all soon be wearing smart glasses.
Google has posted a video on YouTube showing off Project Glass, its augmented reality glasses which overlay information such as maps, messages and reminders as the wearer goes about their daily business.
In the “day in a life” video shot from the perspective of a young man in New York City, the glasses inform him that the subway is not running, provide him with alternative walking directions, help him meet a friend and enable him to have a video call with his girlfriend.
For those who say Project Glass is a step too far as technology becomes ubiquitous, the three Google researchers behind it said that rather than immersing people in their gadgets, it will put them “back in the moment”.
“We think technology should work for you, to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t,” they said in the post on the Google+ social network.
The project is the latest concept to emerge from Google X, the web company’s highly secretive research lab near its headquarters in Mountain View, California.
In February the New York Times first revealed that Google was working on augmented reality glasses but at that time it was thought the units would be similar in shape and size to sports sunglasses such as those made by Oakley. The units featured in the Project Glass video feature a slim band around the user’s head with a small see-through display in front of one of the wearer’s eyes.
Google has not said when it might start selling the technology but some reports suggest the device could go on the market later this year.