Google Glass

Google Glass 

Sam Kaplan

When the Google Glass concept debuted in June 2012, it became one of the most anticipated gadget launches ever—rivaling the first iPhone. For all intents and purposes, Project Glass, as it was then called, promised Terminator vision, a hovering overlay of information as crisp as a 25-inch HDTV. Impossible as it sounds, the product, which came out as a developer version in April, goes beyond that pledge: It’s like wearing a piece of the future. 

Glass is, in essence, a consumer head-up display. Incoming calls, messages, and calendar alerts pop up just above eye level. It also has a videocamera, turn-by-turn navigation, voice search, Google Now, and partner apps, including Twitter, Facebook, and The New York Times. With such a basic set of features, it would be easy to write Glass off as a novel accessory, but the fact is that we’ve only just begun to tap into its potential. About 2,000 developers are working to broaden its uses before the final consumer version arrives next year. Glass—like the PC and the smartphone before it—represents a new way to display and transmit information. How we’ll use it from here is anyone’s guess.

STATS

Apparent screen size: 25 inches

Weight: 1.4 ounces

Price: $1,500 (Explorer edition)