Google Glass
Part of a series on Google. [View Related Entries]
About
Project Glass is a research and development program by the multinational Internet and software corporation Google, which aims to build an augmented reality head-mounted display unit. A promotional video released by Google in April of 2012 has inspired several parody videos and image macros.
History
On February 22nd, 2012, New York Times[7] writer Nick Bilton published an article titled "Behind the Google Goggles, Virtual Reality", which revealed that Google was building augmented reality glasses running on the Android operating system. On April 4th, Google unveiled Project Glass in a Google Plus[6] post, which included a YouTube video showcasing the concept. The video takes the perspective of a young man interacting with an augmented reality display as he explores New York City. The YouTube upload received over 12 million views within one week.
Explorer Program
On February 20th, 2013, Google uploaded a video featuring a first-person perspective of what it looks like to wear Google Glass (shown below). The video showed people interacting with the device by speaking voice commands, prefaced by the phrase "Ok Glass," that would control what would be shown on the display. Within one month, it received over 18.5 million views and 20,000 comments.
The same day, Google opened entry into the Google Glass early adopter program named "Glass Explorer," allowing developers and consumers early access to testing the product. Entry into the program was ended the following week on February 27th. Applicants had to post an essay consisting of 50 words or less to their Google+ or Twitter pages with the hashtag #ifihadglass. Selected individuals would then have to attend an event in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles to pick up an Explorer edition of the device, which connects to the Internet through Wi-Fi.
2013 SXSW Event
On March 12th, 2013, Google showcased several Google Glass features during a session at the interactive portion of the South by Southwest (SXSW) annual conference held in Austin, Texas. During the presentation, Google demoed apps that had been designed for the device, including Gmail, the New York Times, Path and Evernote.
Ban on Porn Apps
On June 3rd, 2013, the first pornographic app for Google Glass was released by MiKandi[15], an adult app store for Android mobile phone users, which would allow Google Glass wearers to browse sexually explicit photos and videos filmed with the headset device. Within hours of the announcement, at least 17 owners of Google Glass signed up for the service while more than 10,000 people visited the landing page for the app, according to the blog post on the developer's website.[16]
Later that same day, however, it soon became evident that MiKandi's adult-only app was in violation of Google's latest addition to its Platform Developer Policies[17] over the weekend, which prohibits sexually explicit content for the glassware altogether.
Sexually Explicit Material: We don’t allow Glassware content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material. Google has a zero-tolerance policy against child pornography. If we become aware of content with child pornography, we will report it to the appropriate authorities and delete the Google Accounts of those involved with the distribution.
As a result, Mikandi's request to increase the API limit for the app was denied and the company followed up with a blog post[16] explaining that the app had been in compliance with Google's policy when it started developing the product two weeks ago and the change was unbeknownst to the developers until only after they released the app.
One Day Sale
On April 10th, 2014, at 3:01 PM EST, Google[18] announced via its Google+ page[19] that the device will be available for purchase to the general public at a price of ($1,500 plus tax) for one day on April 15th. The announcement, which came roughly two hours after The Verge[21] broke the news with leaked internal documents outlining an action plan for the sale (shown below), also stated that it will be only available for U.S. residents over the age of 21.
![INTERNAL] GLASS Glass XE Frames Shades Accessories Orders Proposal: Explorer Program Expansion Glass Explorer Edition $1500 Gass is』ightweght wearable technology that you can customize with different shades,rames and earbuds Tech specs Comes wih Cable and Charger On April 15th at 6am PDT: Your Choice of Shade or Frame Announce a limited time (about a day?) expansion of the Explorer Program where any US resident would be able to purchase Glass (through google. com/glass) and join the Explorer Program. o Step 1. Select your color Step 2. Select your complimentary accessory Frames our feather-ightitanium frames that you can have fit with your prescription or no prescription a all Learn mone THE VERGE o Include free frame or shade with Curve 5225 $0 Bold 225 s0 Split 5225 $0 Thin 9295 $0 purchase ($1500) Next Steps: Shades Gass Shades feature polaried, impact-resstant lenses from Mauljimand Zeal Optes They twist on and off Glass when you arent wearing ames Learn more o Principal signoff by 4/10 o Push to production by 4/15 Edge $450 Classic 450 Active $459 Step 3. All good? Add to Cart Google - Confidential and Proprietary](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/734/296/451.png "451.png")
For each purchase, Google offered free eyeglass or sunglass frames in five different colors (red, blue, gray, black and white), with the "Cotton" white selling out within a matter of hours. By the next morning, the entire stock had been sold.
Reception
News Media Coverage
The same day the project was unveiled, it was covered by a variety of news media outlets including CNN[1], The New York Times[2], TechCrunch[3], Wired[4] and USA Today.[5]
Online Reactions
Later that day, YouTuber Tom Scott uploaded a parody video titled “Project Glasses: A New Way To Hurt Yourself”, which took the perspective of a man repeatedly running into things while being distracted by his augmented reality display.
On April 5th, 2012, a post by Redditor BabyStevie reached the front page of the /r/AdviceAnimals subreddit titled "Why Google's project "Glass" will be successful", which featured a design photo for the project accompanied by the caption "No one has a clue / that I'm watching porn right now."
Parodies
In the following days, several other parody videos appeared on YouTube mocking the promotional video with buggy software, invasive advertisements and jealous spouses.
White Men Wearing Google Glass
On April 29th, 2013, the single topic blog "White Men Wearing Google Glass" was launched on the microblogging site Tumblr, which highlights photographs of Caucasian men wearing the Explorer edition of the Google Glass headset (shown below). Within one week, the blog posted over 30 pictures.
On the following day, the Gawker Media blog Valley Wag[9] featured a post about the blog. On May 1st, the tech news site Mashable[10] published an article highlighting several Twitter reactions to the photo blog.
“In its favour, if Google Glass didn't exist, these Silicon Valley guys would be having affairs or buying motorbikes” whitemenwearinggoogleglass.tumblr.com
— Niall McCormack (@ndmccormack) April 30, 2013
The next day, the Internet news site Laughing Squid[11] posted a compilation of notable examples from the Tumblr blog and Wired[12] published an article suggesting that the abundance of white male testers in the Explorer program may be harming the product's brand image as being "too dorky." On May 3rd, The New York Times[13] Bits blog reported on the public reaction to the blog and ABC News[14] published an article noting that the photographs may be a telling sign of gender inequality issues within the technology industry.
Search Interest
External References
[1] CNN – Google unveils Project Glass virtual-reality glasses
[2] New York Times – A Rose-Colored View May Come Standard
[3] TechCrunch – Google’s Project Glass Augmented Reality Glasses Are Real And In Testing
[4] Wired – Google Gets Transparent With Glass, Its Augmented Reality Project
[5] USA Today – Google shows off Project Glass
[6] Google Plus – Project Glass
[7] New York Times – Behind the Google Goggles, Virtual Reality
[8] Google – Google Glass
[9] Valley Wag – If Google Has Its Way, Someday Every White Guy Will Look Like This
[10] Mashable – White Men Wearing Google Glass
[11] Laughing Squid – Photos of White Men Wearing Google Glass
[12] Wired – Guys Like This Could Kill Google Glass
[13] The New York Times – Shine to Wear off a Little Google Glass
[14] ABC News – Google Glass Highlights Gender Issues in the Tech World
[15] MiKandi – Tits and Glasses, the World's First Google Glass Porn App (Warning: NSFW)
[16] MiKandi – Tits and Glasses Update / Google Bans Glass Porn Apps (Warning: NSFW)
[17] Google Developers – Glass Platform Developer Policies
[18] Google Plus – Google Glass
[20] Google Plus – Google Glass available to anyone for one day only
[21] The Verge – For one day, Google will let anyone in the US buy Glass
.jpg "Decearing Egg"){kind=icon}
![INTERNAL] GLASS Glass XE Frames Shades Accessories Orders Proposal: Explorer Program Expansion Glass Explorer Edition $1500 Gass is』ightweght wearable technology that you can customize with different shades,rames and earbuds Tech specs Comes wih Cable and Charger On April 15th at 6am PDT: Your Choice of Shade or Frame Announce a limited time (about a day?) expansion of the Explorer Program where any US resident would be able to purchase Glass (through google. com/glass) and join the Explorer Program. o Step 1. Select your color Step 2. Select your complimentary accessory Frames our feather-ightitanium frames that you can have fit with your prescription or no prescription a all Learn mone THE VERGE o Include free frame or shade with Curve 5225 $0 Bold 225 s0 Split 5225 $0 Thin 9295 $0 purchase ($1500) Next Steps: Shades Gass Shades feature polaried, impact-resstant lenses from Mauljimand Zeal Optes They twist on and off Glass when you arent wearing ames Learn more o Principal signoff by 4/10 o Push to production by 4/15 Edge $450 Classic 450 Active $459 Step 3. All good? Add to Cart Google - Confidential and Proprietary](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/000/734/296/451.png "451.png")
Top Comments
Tiny_Robin
Mar 19, 2013 at 08:12AM EDT
Timstuff
Mar 15, 2013 at 01:07PM EDT