Skip to main content

Volkswagen staff appear to be using Google Glass at work

Volkswagen’s media department this week took a break from knocking out statements about its troubling emissions crisis, turning briefly instead to an altogether lighter subject: high-tech eyewear.

An announcement made by the company this week trumpets the take-up of a piece of kit that looks remarkably like Glass, though on its website VW makes no direct mention of Google’s face-based computer.

Recommended Videos

The German automaker says its logistics staff are now using what it describes as “3D smart glasses” at its plant in Wolfsburg following the successful completion of a three-month trial.

The high-tech specs help staff with a range of tasks, offering information on the device’s display to help them select the correct components and parts from around the workplace. Importantly, touch and voice controls allow for hands-free operation.

“The camera in the glasses is also used as a barcode reader,” VW explains on its site. “Correct barcodes on parts removed from the storage location are shown in green while parts incorrectly removed are shown in red.”

The car company says that at the moment 30 employees in various areas such as windshields or driveshafts are using the smart glasses, with plans to extend their use to other departments, plants, and brands over time.

Commenting on VW’s use of the advanced kit, Reinhard de Vries, head of plant logistics at Wolfsburg, said, “Digitalization is becoming increasingly important in production. The 3D smart glasses take cooperation between humans and systems to a new level.”

While consumers never seemed to warm to the idea of Glass and appeared increasingly wary of its implications, industry has shown a greater willingness to embrace the technology as businesses learn more about how it can aid tasks and help improve efficiency in the workplace.

Google never abandoned its Glass project, though back in January did bring the curtain down on its Explorer testing program. Since then, there have been several reports indicating interest in the gadget among a number of industries, with companies such as Boeing and UPS also launching pilot programs utilizing Google’s device.

The Mountain View company is known to be working on a new version of Glass – or several new versions – with both consumers and enterprise targeted.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Google’s Messages app will soon work better with iMessage
Pixel phone with five icon at the bottom of the display.

Android users will finally be able to interact more easily with emoji reactions sent by Apple iMessage users. Right now, if Google Messages app users message someone on Apple's iMessage platform and they get a response with a reaction to the message, what they don't actually get is an emoji. They instead get a  “Loved” or “Liked” text followed by the original message. However, this is about to change.

According to a report from Droid-Life, the Google Messages Beta is getting a new feature that allows a user to finally see a reaction from an iPhone user. The app now displays an emoji instead of a "Liked" text, and the Google app converts a reaction sent by an iMessage user to an appropriate emoji on Android. Up until now, the feature was in the testing phase with a limited number of users, but it has started rolling out in the beta for Google Messages.

Read more
Google is making Android devices work better together with expanded Fast Pairing
google fast pairing android features multi device experiences

Google is moving boldly into 2022 with new features designed to bring all the devices in your life into harmony around your Android smartphone of choice. The company made number of announcements at CES 2022 to help make your devices and accounts work more seamlessly.
Fast Pair everything
Android’s Fast Pair technology already helps you get up and running with Bluetooth accessories like headphones and speakers, but now Google is expanding it beyond audio connectivity to add a whole collection of new devices.

This means that in the coming months you’ll be able to use Fast Pair to quickly link up your headphones with your Chromebook, Google TV, or other Android TV OS device, add Matter-enabled Smart Home devices to your network, and even automatically switch your Bluetooth headphone audio based on the device you’re listening to.

Read more
Oppo Air Glass avoids the one feature that made Google Glass so controversial
Oppo Air Glass on face.

Oppo has announced Air Glass, the closest we’ve seen to a consumer-focused Google Glass alternative since, well, ever, as few made the effort to replace Glass after Google discontinued its smart eyewear in 2015. However, while Air Glass looks a lot like Google Glass, it doesn’t have the feature that made it so controversial: A camera. This means it doesn’t have the same privacy concerns, but it also lacks the augmented reality features that made Glass so unique. Instead, Oppo calls Air Glass “assisted reality glasses,” and says they work like a head-up display (HUD).

Air Glass has a monocle design and can be worn with a half-frame, or as full-frame spectacles for those who require prescription lenses. The metal body houses an Oppo-designed Micro LED projector the size of a coffee bean, and inside the dual-layer sapphire glass lens is a custom optical diffraction waveguide capable of displaying color and grayscale content at up to 1,400 nits brightness.

Read more