Wow — Google's Sergey Brin just took the stage at Google I/O to show off a demo of Google Glass. Several skydivers were in a blimp above the Moscone Center in San Francisco and suddenly decided to jump down to the city below, attempting to hit the roof of the Moscone Center, each one wearing a Google Glass product. The group initiated a hangout together so that everyone could see the separate frames from each jumper's Google Glass glasses with a first-hand view.
Once the divers landed safely on the roof, a package was handed off to several bikers who rode across the rooftops and passed the package off to a repeller who repelled down the side of the building. Then, more bikers took the package and rode into the Moscone Center right on to the stage where the biker passed the package off to Google's Sergey Brin.
So what was in the package? A pair of Google Glass glasses. Google then dove into explaining that the Glass devices were prototypes. It includes a heads-up display (HUD), a camera to capture pictures and videos, a processor and memory for storing the information. There's a touchpad on the side for interacting with the device as well as a button for snapping photos. Microphones are embedded in Glass, too, as well as a speaker. There are also gyroscopes, accelerometers and a compass inside.
Glass was created so that users can "interact with a virtual world without being distracted from the real world," Google said. The display actually sits above your eye so that it doesn't block your line of site. Google also said the product is physically and visually light so that it is reduced to its core aspects. "Our latest prototype weighs less on your nose than many sunglasses," Google explained.
Google envisions people being able to communicate through images and to gain rapid access to information through Glass. Google hopes to enable the glasses with features that will provide people with answers to questions almost immediately through Glass. For example, someone might want to know how to navigate somewhere or want to know how fast they are going while on a bike ride — Google envisions Glass being able to provide that information in the future.
The whole demo was amazing: we can't wait for this product to launch. Unfortunately, Google hasn't said exactly when it will be available for consumers.
