Take a close look at these pictures Google developer Isabelle Olsson posted on her Google Plus feed late last month. Wicked cute, right? That’s Google Glass in action, my friends. Yep–the same thing that this guy is wearing. Could things finally be looking up for techies who aren’t okay with looking like Urkel?!
Glass, Google’s latest technological endeavor, is a smartphone-esque platform worn around the face. It uses a combination of eye movement and voice commands to perform tasks like taking pictures and recording video, providing directions, sending messages, and (of course) searching Google. The project has received consistently mixed reviews, to say the least. While some hail its unlimited potential, others criticize its difficult learning curve and have dubbed it “a glorified camcorder” (not to mention the $1500 price tag each tester had to pay). Still, if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we don’t want to look like one of these guys.
After all, unlike an iPhone or laptop, Google Glass is a visible modification; a piece of “wearable technology.” Whether or not it has potential, no one’s going to want to try and play a hands-free game of Angry Birds when they know look like Cyclops from the X-Men. Google seems to have become aware of this fact and is now taking strides to push Glass out of the techie box and into the realm of fashion accessories.
Kelly Lang (are you picking up on the trend that a lot of awesome women are working with Google?), the Glass project’s director of business development, recently revealed a partnership with Elle for an app that provides Glass wearers with on-the-go access to content like designer look-books, street fashion updates, and horoscopes. Whether or not you want to try and read your compatibility with a Gemini on a one-inch screen in the corner of your eye is up to you, but hey, at least they are trying.
Important names in fashion have taken note of Google’s new direction. Diane Von Furstenberg, for example, chose to include Google Glass as a component in her latest runway show, pushing the boundaries of the ever-evolving marriage between fashion and technology. Check out this behind the scenes video Von Furstenberg created using Glass:
What’s your take? Does Glass’s stylish potential make you reconsider? Or will anyone sporting these bad boys be forever doomed to Trekkie status?
