Wearable computing is back: Google reportedly making HUD glasses
Admit it: at some point, you’ve dreamed of having Iron Man-style HUD glasses. Along with hoverboards and flying cars, computer-enhanced eyewear is probably one of a geek’s most-requested “future gadgets.” There’s something about having a secret, internet-powered Ninja View of your surroundings that gives you a sense of power and intelligence like no other (or so I hear).
Some engineers and designers at Google may share this sci-fi fantasy. An alleged leak obtained by 9to5Google says that the company is working on its own pair of HUD glasses. These specs aren’t for Larry Page’s and Eric Schmidt’s private games of laser tag, though. They are prototypes that could make it to market sooner than you might expect.
The glasses are said to have an extremely small front-facing camera, which will help to identify environmental objects (and enhance augmented reality apps?) and take pictures. It will also be equipped with a flash.
As for the heads-up display, it will reside on one eye only and it won’t be transparent. So, though sci-fi typically shows these kinds of glasses having transparent displays that augment everything you see, this pair will simply offer information from the side. Navigation of the glasses’ UI will be done with head tilts and nods. Sources say that, once a user grows accustomed to this kind of control, it becomes second-nature.
The glasses will reportedly also include a microphone for voice input, and some sort of earpiece for voice output. The specs are supposedly similar to a generation-old Android phone. It’s merely speculation, but the HTC EVO (released in mid-2010) comes to mind: it sports a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM. The glasses would obviously be wirelessly connected, and would ride on a 3G or 4G network.
Google reportedly hasn’t yet decided how to release or market the glasses, and is playing it close to the chest (unsuccessfully, if this leak is legit). The company supposedly isn’t sure whether the device has market appeal, and is considering releasing them in a pilot program — similar to the Cr-48 Chromebooks.
(Source: geek.com)