Google is reportedly pitching a new version of Glass aimed at the workplace.
Google
Glass has officially been on hiatus since January, as the company tries
to find new ways to get consumers hooked on the search giant's smart
eye wear. In the meantime, the company is courting a market more likely
to respond better to the product: the workplace.
Google
has been distributing a new version of Glass to companies, engineered
specifically for workplaces in sectors including health care,
manufacturing and energy, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The
device will look different from the original Glass, which cost $1,500,
according to the report. Instead of having a built-in frame, the new
version will have a hinge on it that attaches the device to another pair
of glasses. The workplace version will also have a battery pack and
longer prism -- which is how a wearer sees digital images and graphics
overlaid on top of what that person usually sees.
Glass was originally unveiled in 2012 by Google co-founder Sergey Brin with much fanfare, but the hype quickly died as the device became a lightning rod for controversy.
Glass, with its built-in camera, became a target for detractors who
felt their privacy was being violated. Others simply disliked the device
because they thought it looked nerdy.
With
the enterprise version, Google hopes to sidesteps the privacy and
fashion concerns, since those things tend to be less of an issue in a
workplace environment. (For example, a construction worker might not
worry about how Glass looks with his or her hard hat ensemble.)
Even
though Google "paused" the program in January, it never stopped
courting the workplace. Since January 2014, the company has specifically
tried to persuade employers to use Glass in the workplace with a
program called Glass at Work, complete with outreach to convince app
makers to continue making programs for the device. For example, the
company tested an app with Taco Bell to assist its employees in
assembling menu items.
There
have been setbacks. Chris O'Neill, Glass's business chief and head of
the Glass at Work program, has left Google to become the CEO at
productivity software company Evernote. Google has also made several
other changes to the Glass team.
This
past January, the company handed the reins of the project to Tony
Fadell, co-founder of Nest, the smart home company Google acquired last
year. Fadell is a former Apple executive and hardware guru that played
key roles in the development of Apple's iPod and iPhone.
