glass

Google has received three patents for a "wearable display device" which appear to be the foundation for its Project Glass augmented reality glasses.

Company engineers submitted patent applications for a wearable display device last fall and they were assigned today.

There aren't detailed description attached to the patents, but the patent references the types of inventions you would expect, such as display designs for showing data and playing music.

Google's secretive research lab, Google X, announced Project Glass last month and showed off early prototypes of the device, some of which are now being tested by … Read more

You know what sucks about visiting Google? Seeing the Google Glasses but not being able to try them yourself. Thanks a lot, Vic.

But we are, slowly, learning more about this project. In particular, the prototypes that are appearing in the field, on TV, and in tantalizing interviews with online journalists are not capable of displaying the full-on, in-your-face type of augmented reality that 15 million people have seen in Google's demo video (and all the spoofs).

While Google+ chief Vic Gundotra didn't say much about the Glasses during an interview this morning, a later discussion with another spokesperson confirmed that the popular prototype model, as seen on Gundotra as well as Google X Lab founder Sebastian Thrun in a Charlie Rose interview, shows information above the wearer's usual line of sight, "about where the edge of an umbrella might be." … Read more

Windows that shade automatically have been part of high-tech home demos for years, but there are signs that smart glass is leaving research labs and heading into more actual buildings.

Building-materials maker Saint Gobain earlier this week acquired Sage Electrochromics, and another smart glass startup, Soladigm, signed a distribution deal with Guardian Industries, one of the largest glass manufacturers.

Materials scientists have toiled for years developing glass that can automatically tint based on the amount of light coming in, but technical challenges have meant that the technology is hardly used.

The investment by large companies in tintable window glass signals … Read more

In today's show, Google takes us for a spin, ultrabooks are no longer ultra-pricey, and the iPad isn't just for humans anymore:

Hewlett-Packard announced several new thin and light laptops under the Envy brand. Some are officially called ultrabooks, equiped with Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors, while less-expensive ones are called sleekbooks. But regardless of the different labels, it means high-quality thin and light laptops are moving into the $600 to $700 price range. (There's even a rumor that the MacBook Air -- the computer that kickstarted the ultrabook craze -- will drop its price to $… Read more

Google's Project Glass glasses might not be the most stylish pair of lenses you've ever worn, but a new image released by the search company shows how far they might go in changing the state of photography.

Google fellow and vice president Sebastian Thrun yesterday posted an image he took while wearing his Project Glass eyewear. In it, he's spinning his son, Jasper, around with both hands while the glasses he's wearing snap the photo.

Soon after it was posted, the image went viral on the Google+ social network, and it was reposted by company co-founder Sergey Brin, … Read more

Sebastian Thrun of Google says that the company's Project Glass glasses are best doing what a smartphone does but in a hands-free way.

The company executive, who works on Project Glass at Google X Labs, wore a prototype of the now-famous glasses during an interview with Charlie Rose which went online today.

He showed how they are operated when he took a photo of Rose by pressing a button, then nodded his head to apparently share the photo with his friends on Google Plus. Two weeks ago, Google founder Sergey Brin was seen at a charity event sporting the … Read more

We here at Low Latency can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, so it should be no shock that we were a bit fearful for our immediate safety when Google's Project Glass video hit a few weeks ago.

The plan for Project Glass is to create a real-life head-up display for your face, allowing people to interact with the real world through the pervasive Google ecosystem. But it also got us thinking -- if we're so preoccupied with our texting, mapping, and other augmented reality antics, who's gonna make sure we're watching where we're going?

If you have an idea for another Project Glass test trial disaster, make sure to let us know in the comments section below.… Read more

Oakley may be hoping to out-glass Google with its own brand of eyewear that can display information directly on the lenses.

The company's CEO Colin Baden told Bloomberg that it's creating technology to tie smartphone features into eyewear. The project is still in the experimental stage, and Baden wouldn't confirm if Oakley plans to launch its own such eyewear. But he did reveal a few features he'd like to see in the product.

The eyewear would work on its own to display information but also team up with a smartphone through Bluetooth. The device could even … Read more

The Defense Department has reportedly ordered augmented-reality displays from startup Innovega, only a week after Google disclosed its own augmented-reality project.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Innovega has signed a contract to supply the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with a prototype of its iOptik spectacles and accompanying contact lenses, Innovega's CEO Steve Willey told the BBC. The augmented-reality system could improve the awareness of soldiers in the field, he said.

The contact lenses have a filter that allows a person to focus on images at a very close distance and focus on far-away objects at the same time. That … Read more