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A model casually wearing this summer's augmented reality glasses trend. Google

These are Google’s new augmented reality glasses – but what can they do?

The internet giant has unveiled one of its most radical technologies yet: wearable computing.

THEY MAY LOOK like something you’d see on Star Trek – Geordi La Forge, anyone? – but Google has unveiled one of its most radical technologies yet: augmented reality glasses.

The technology company today released the first scraps of information about its secret project codenamed Project Glass.

In a post on Google Plus, employees posted a video of what the glasses should be able to do and asked for feedback on the technology.

In the clip, a person wearing the glasses walks around New York and is able to get directions, take photographs, check in at places, and message friends, with all the information appearing on the lenses of the glasses.

The employees said that they aim to have technology work as needed and stay out of the way when it’s not.

A group of us from Google started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the momrng. We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input.

The company has been testing the glasses for some time and they are not yet ready for sale. However Google has suggested that they could be on the market by late this year.

Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that advertisements could also be projected onto the lenses.

What do you think? Would you wear the glasses?


Poll Results:

Yes (1385)
No (722)

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57 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kieran Ross
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:31 PM

    I’d wear them only if they kept adds off them

    152
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    Mute LeeKelly
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    Apr 5th 2012, 9:14 AM

    Nice but unlikely. Google’s Primary business model is as the worlds largest advertising company. All platforms are developed as a another means by which to display these advertisements.

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    Mute Stephen Murphy
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:16 AM

    @LeeKelly – Saying that “All platforms are developed as a another means by which to display these advertisements” is a little bit of an exaggeration, no?
    The insinuation being that all products that Google develop are firstly an advertising platform? You couldn’t have it more wrong.

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    Mute Doire Ó Cúinn
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:59 AM

    I don’t know why you think he’s wrong, it’s specifically their business model, they have no other one. They are an advertising company. They have stated this so many times in the past. Android is a means of advertising on mobile, maps and earth are means of advertising businesses, search is a means of displaying relevant ads, voice is a means of improving their speech recognition technology to improve their search do they can show ads, google TV gets their ads onto your telly, that’s all they are, a brilliant and useful advertising company

    5
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    Mute Stephen Murphy
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    Apr 5th 2012, 2:25 PM

    I’m not challenging the fact that Google get the vast majority (not all) of their revenue from advertising. What I’m challenging is the logic that products are built around ads, when in reality, time and time again we have seen that it’s products first, monetisation afterwards.

    1
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    Mute Alan Bolger
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:34 PM

    You’d be making a spectical of yourself walking around.

    147
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    Mute Jamie Walsh
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:47 PM

    People said the same about mobile phones.

    62
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    Mute Steven Smyth
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:28 PM

    But how could you make a spectacle of yourself with a mobi……ah forget it.

    68
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    Mute Jamie O Sullivan
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    Apr 5th 2012, 9:31 AM

    Spectacle

    3
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    Mute prot0type
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:24 PM

    Hell yeah! :-D

    117
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    Mute Gay Pea McManus
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:48 PM

    Cool, now Big Brother G doesn’t need to watch you anymore, he just sees through your eyes.

    100
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    Mute Gay Pea McManus
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:49 PM

    Whahahahaha!!

    20
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    Mute Phil Mc Donald
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:10 PM

    She was wearing glasses???

    48
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    Mute Abi Dennis
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:41 PM

    throw in the model and you have a deal! :p

    93
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    Mute Joe McDermott
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:42 PM

    Sorry your Honour, i was taking pictures, texting my friend and getting directions when i slammed into the back of the squad car.

    88
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    Mute Gay Pea McManus
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:37 PM

    THUD!

    Whoops, guess his glasses never noticed the white van speeding around the corner.

    66
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    Mute Patrick Coffey
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:28 PM

    Ah I fricking love google!

    60
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    Mute Danny D
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:36 PM

    for what? putting together sci-fi movie?

    nokia did the same 6 years ago… http://nds3.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/About_Nokia/Research/Demos/Morph/video/morph_concept_small.mov

    15
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    Mute Conor Cullen
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:44 PM

    Can’t wait for the Apple version! ;)

    56
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    Mute Sean Claffey
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:56 PM

    Why? So you can pay three times the price for the exact same thing?

    111
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    Mute Joe McDermott
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:32 PM

    iFoureyes

    85
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    Mute Denis
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    Apr 5th 2012, 12:18 PM

    Judging by the android phone market the Apple version will be slightly cheaper and work better.
    I don’t know where this myth about Apple being expensive comes from when a HTC One X costs over 600 euro.

    2
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    Mute Sean Claffey
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    Apr 5th 2012, 12:31 PM

    If you look at the specs of the HTC One X you’ll see why. It’s hardware beats the iPhone 4s by a long shot. If you compare Android phones with similar specs to the iPhone you’ll understand.

    It’s the same with Macbooks. I have a Samsung which cost me €630, where as the equivalent hardware with Apple cost about €1200.

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    Mute Joe McDermott
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:38 PM

    Cool.. Hope they come with lamp post warning system…(Smack)

    53
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    Mute jimbo
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:50 PM

    Googlesavers.

    38
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    Mute Paul Mallon
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:35 PM

    I think they look pretty decent; kind of what I’d imagined they’d look like.
    Remember how ridiculous blue-tooth headsets looked when they came out? didn’t stop them becoming a massive success.

    38
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    Mute Paul Mallon
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:40 PM

    hmmm… interesting future ahead for humanity methinks. This’ll take about 6 months to catch on, if even that – Next stop augmented reality contact lenses, chip implants – welcome to Borgsville!! :-D

    I love technology, but I’m in two minds about this. I spend enough time obsessing with social media without having it taking up permanent real estate in my field of vision.

    53
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    Mute Brendan Brennan
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:07 PM

    So can teens wear them sitting the leaving cert exams..? I’m sure someone will be able to put all the answers on a file in the glasses to be displayed.

    32
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    Mute Sean Claffey
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:37 PM

    Well as far as I know laptops, tablets and phones aren’t allowed so I can imagine they might have a rule for that too!

    23
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    Mute Peter
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:35 PM

    These are not the things you want to be sitting on !

    29
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    Mute David Rochford
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    Apr 5th 2012, 9:22 AM

    Nor are they the droids you’re looking for.

    10
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    Mute Julian King
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    Apr 5th 2012, 1:27 AM

    They should call them “Google Goggles”.

    24
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    Mute Steve Dwyer
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:37 AM

    Ther already is a Google appication called Goggles! I have it on my phone. It allows you to take a photo of something eg. a brand label, and it web searches the photo. I think it recognises landmarks, paintings and reads signs etc. All of Google’s different technologies and projects seem to be coming together for this one. Very exciting!!

    7
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    Mute Jeff Nolan
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    Apr 5th 2012, 12:19 AM

    I’d imagine you’d be introducing yourself to alot of lamp posts…….

    18
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    Mute Sean Finn
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:13 PM

    creepy out

    14
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    Mute Joan O'Connell
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:59 PM

    Effing ukuleles.

    13
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    Mute Paul Mallon
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    Apr 5th 2012, 7:07 AM
    13
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    Mute Danny D
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    Apr 4th 2012, 9:34 PM

    ridicules. Reminds me of Nokia Morph…

    it’s a concept, and we’ve seen plenty of those. Not going to happen (anytime soon).

    ALso, that little display is tiny and only over one eye. How exactly is this going to be readable, if only one eye can see it?!

    12
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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:17 PM

    The HUD concept is not unique, however Google have working prototypes (not the model above, something a little more… clunky) and one of the guys behind it, Babak Parviz , has been working on building contact lens with an embedded display.
    Google will bring this to market, Nokia won’t.

    38
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    Mute Joe McDermott
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    Apr 4th 2012, 10:21 PM

    The same way Apache pilots can train one eye to take in info in their eye piece and the other on the battlefield below. They say the brain catches on very quick..saw it on discovery wings.

    55
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    Mute Graham O' Malley
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    Apr 5th 2012, 11:45 AM

    Don’t forget that Nokia also had a concept iPhone-like device years before Apple had their success with it. Nokia have historically been terrible at going from ‘concept’ to ‘product’, which is why they have lost a gigantic amount of their market share in the last 5 years, and are now stuck making winMo handsets that I’m not sure anyone is that interested in.

    9
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    Mute Shane Carmody
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    Apr 5th 2012, 2:26 AM

    Any hipster versions available?

    12
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    Mute Ciaran O'Hare
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    Apr 5th 2012, 2:04 AM

    Savage I want them

    9
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    Mute Thats So Grodie
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:08 AM

    Id buy that for a dollar

    6
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    Mute PerkyBeans
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    Apr 5th 2012, 6:57 AM

    Cool, can’t wait up update my status via ‘glasses’ then crash my car

    5
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    Mute random
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:27 AM

    Google has a solution for that problem too…

    1
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    Mute Jane Ward
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    Apr 5th 2012, 9:28 AM

    Is this what Robocop sees?

    5
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    Mute Barry Mulrooney
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    Apr 5th 2012, 9:07 AM

    Black Mirror anyone?

    5
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    Mute Clodagh thompson
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    Apr 5th 2012, 7:33 AM

    @Brendan, I hear ya. Soon what will b the point of striking the ‘end of the world’ fear into students with leaving cert exams when all this info is available at d touch of a button n soon it will literally ‘in their face’ …. go igoggle go.

    3
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    Mute Killian Lynch
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    Apr 5th 2012, 4:22 PM

    Have none of you noticed that you can still see through the glasses i.e. no one will be walking into fucking lampposts

    3
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    Mute Tony Stanley
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    Apr 5th 2012, 11:35 AM

    And que a thousand commuters walking into lamp posts and a new form of earning penalty points!

    Still want one though!

    3
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    Mute Stephen
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    Apr 5th 2012, 5:55 PM

    What if it malfunctions and tells you to kill someone? Have Google considered the legalities?

    3
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    Mute Padraig Culbert
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:24 AM

    Imagine being with a friend in a strange city. You say “the harbour is four blocks this way”. Your friend says “there’s a great pizza place on the way. It has great reviews”. Handy.

    2
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    Mute Aranthos Faroth
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    Apr 5th 2012, 6:04 PM

    Heck, if it works as good as the video here shows then yes, I would definitely buy them!
    However, I am savagely pessimistic. :P
    Every month a new ‘augmented reality’ technology comes out. It’s the biggest. It’s the best. It’s the most advanced.
    When it’s released, it doesn’t work.

    C’mon google! If you can’t do it, not many else can…

    1
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    Mute Stephen Hayden
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    Apr 6th 2012, 7:49 PM

    Class, you don’t here Bibio often enough.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eks4gB9tbE

    1
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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Apr 6th 2012, 4:18 PM

    Google’s CEO was spotted wearing one of the prototypes in public at a charity event 2 days ago.
    http://9to5google.com/2012/04/05/more-on-the-google-project-glass-including-the-first-spotting-on-sergey-brin

    1
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    Mute random
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    Apr 5th 2012, 10:29 AM

    I don’t think I’d be interested in anything like this until they can make them look like an actual pair of glasses.

    1
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