Goodbye Glass?

Google recently stopped manufacturing the Explorer version of Glass. Since I have had Glass Explorer for over a year this has prompted people to ask me about the status of Glass. As an active technology professional and educator there is not a simple answer.

The 'official' answer from Google is that Glass has been moved from Google X to a profit oriented division of the company. Basically, Glass is not going away. What was learned from the Glass Explorer program is being developed into a marketable product.

Glass Explorer was a concept rollout, not a product rollout. This was done through Google X, the research arm of Google. Developers and the public began to petition to 'get their hands' on this thing that Google was developing. As Google began to release, first to those invited and then, to the public it was clearly stated that this was an Explorer program. Glass Explorer was truly not ready as a consumer device.

There were and still are some major hurdles facing wearables that Google had to explore.

There was not a wearable operating system in the marketplace when Glass Explorer became available.  It was not clear how users should and would interact with a wearable device.  Google Explorer allowed Android to be investigated as a wearable platform. Cards and the use of voice had to be considered as part of the user interface.

Similar to the introduction of mobile/smartphone devices the type of data and the screen size for wearables is different.  Web pages are no longer a viable option. Even trying to reformat for a specific size would not work. All of the current web pages and services will have to be adjusted to provide for the use of more specific information that is served to meet specific inquiries. The introduction of the use of the Card as the display object allowed for a good display, but the web is not ready to identify and serve small pieces of data from its mass amounts of information.

Although voice inquiry and activation have been around for a couple of decades, it has not been an integral part of any operating system. The use of a keyboard, mouse, or touch to execute commands in a menu/hierarchical system has been the standard format. Voice tools such as Siri or Google Now are only an extension of the menu format. The more specific the question, the better the answer. Glass Explorer attempted to assess voice as an integral part of an operating system. Yet, it was being used in a hierarchical command process that was not user adaptable.

One of the limits of Glass Explorer was the perception of extending current technology without providing anything that was truly new technology.  Walking down the street one day, a man passed me talking on his phone. The man glanced up as he passed, then quickly stated incredulously into the phone, "I just passed someone that was wearing that internet on his face thing." When people asked what I could do with Glass Explorer, they would sum up what I was saying with, "Basically, it is a smartphone on your head." Glass Explorer was about creating a better experiential environment of current technology.

Wearables are hardware that allows for a better experiential environment. Glass Explorer was an opportunity for Google to discover how it can best serve the marketplace and make money with wearables. Google will have to take the time to examine its position in the wearables marketplace and the Internet of Things.

It remains to be understood exactly what will come next. My best guess is that Google will be focusing on its strength, which is software development.

Whatever happens next, I just hope I get another invite......