glass

Injecting new technologies into cultures can be tricky.

When the telephone was first introduced in the 19th century, people had major concerns about health risks as well as fears that unwanted ears would be listening in on their conversations. Some people avoided using the telephone, believing the new device would adversely impact relationships in their community or that they could contract diseases through the telephone from parties breathing on the other line.

Nearly 100 years later, the first cell phone, which weighed in at 2.5 pounds and cost nearly $4,000, was greeted with skepticism, concerns about health risks, … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--Did you see the hundreds of people walking around SXSW this week sporting Google Glass and promoting the search giant's much-hyped new augmented reality product?

Don't be disappointed if you missed them. It didn't happen.

Google was in town this week, showing off its hot high-tech eyewear, both at a branded booth alongside a series of other prototype products, and later at a panel. But it didn't avail itself of the chance to give the vast majority of the thousands of geeks at SXSW a peek at Google Glass. If the company was hoping to … Read more

Google Glass fans who wear actual glasses will also be able to don the wearable tech, without abandoning their prescription glasses, according to a Team Glass post today.

The company said one of the most asked questions about Glass was whether Google is making a prescription version. Clearly, Google has seen the value of making Glass versions for those beholden to their corrective lenses.

"The Glass design is modular, so you will be able to add frames and lenses that match your prescription. We understand how important this is and we've been working hard on it," Project … Read more

Google is showing off its wearable tech again, this time with an app-filled presentation at South by Southwest Interactive.

The presentation, which Engadget captured in Austin today, showed apps from The New York Times, Evernote, Skitch, and Path.

Of course, there was also a Gmail app. When an e-mail arrives, Google Glass wearers can use voice command to prompt Google's e-mail service to deliver the sender's image and subject line to the glasses' screen. Users can then tell the app what to write back.

The New York Times application will deliver an article in the form of an … Read more

I've been having nightmares lately.

Usually, my nightmares involve short people stabbing me in the thigh with sprinter's spikes and calling me awful names. Yes, like "Charlie."

However, lately, I've been wandering the streets in my nightmares, wearing Google Glass and causing serious civic damage.

The problem, you see, is that I already wear prescription glasses. So every time I see promotional puffery for Google's informational eyewear, I try to work out how I could put them on over -- or, perhaps, under -- my own glasses.

My suspicions were aroused further by the idea that I'd never seen Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin wear any other glasses besides these madly scientific ones.

Swallowing what remains of my pride, I contacted Google and whispered: "Look, I wear specs. Do you have Google Glass specs for spec wearers?" … Read more

Google Glass won't be available to consumers for months, but there's at least one Seattle bar where the eyewear will not be welcome.

The 5 Point, a self-described dive bar in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, posted a notice to its Facebook page this week telling Glass Explorers looking to grab a pint that they will need to remove their $1,500 spectacles. The story was noted today on GeekWire.

"For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses," the post reads. "And ass kickings will be encouraged … Read more

A new Google Glass technology could help find and identify people by the clothes they wear.

Partly funded by Google, the InSight system works with individuals' self-identification via smartphones and with Google Glass to analyze clothes, eyeglasses, and other items. A person's name can then be displayed on the Google Glass headset whenever you bump into that individual, according to an article published yesterday by New Scientist.

One of the goals is to help Google Glass wearers more easily find friends in airports, stadiums, and other crowded places. There's just one drawback, or benefit, depending on your perspective.… Read more