A few weeks back, Google held a couple of special events giving a select group of developers an opportunity to try out the company’s Google Glass augmented reality specs and discuss with one another, as well as with Google engineers, what kind of ideas they had in mind for the future of the device.
Two so-called Glass Foundry events were held, one in San Francisco and one in New York. Each lasted two days. Invited participants included developers who’d forked out $1500 for the Explorer edition of Google’s high-tech eyewear at Google I/O 2012.
Since the Foundry events, few details have emerged about exactly what went on, largely because Google had the participants sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). However, in recent days the Mountain View company has decided to post some details (though admittedly not many) about the gathering, together with a selection of photos.
The Google+ post from the Glass developer team explained that, after forming groups at the event, the participants came up with “over 80 new ways to use Glass”. Unfortunately Google didn’t offer up any information about the new ideas, and with the NDAs all signed and sealed, the participating developers are also highly unlikely to spill the beans.
“Everyone who demoed received a special edition glass bar (below) identifying them as a ‘Pioneer’ of this next generation of computing,” the post said, adding, “Eight hard-working teams won the grand prize: Google will pick up the cost of their Glass Explorer Edition.”
The company said it hoped to set up more Glass Foundry events in the future.
In an interview at the start of the year, Google Glass project leader Babak Parviz said the Google Glass project still has some way to go before launch day though the recent Glass Foundry gathering will no doubt have been an important step towards that goal.
Parviz added that his team of engineers and developers is currently looking at ways of getting the specs to work with voice commands and head gestures, as well as receive calls. It can already take photos, shoot video, and bring up information on the heads-up display. Little indication has been given by Google as to when we might see the specs in stores, though many believe it could happen during the first half of 2014.
[Images: Daniel Gaines Photography and Philip Montgomery]