Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, the company’s most recent smartglasses (or rather smartglass), was only available to partner companies when it launched in May 2019. Now Google is allowing its third-party hardware vendors to sell the headset direct to developers.

Glass had a rocky start in the world when it was first introduced in its 2013 Explorer Edition targeting early adopters and developers. Resultant ‘glasshole’ neologism notwithstanding, Google went on to revive Glass back in 2017 in its first Enterprise Edition headset, which targets a multitude of businesses including logistics, manufacturing, and field services. Now it seems the most recent version of Glass has fared well enough in the enterprise market that Google is now opening up sales to anyone with around $1,000.

Image courtesy Google

According to a Google blog post, the company has seen “strong demand from developers and businesses,” so it’s making Glass 2 available through their hardware resellers, which includes CDW, Mobile Advance or SHI.

Glass Project Lead Jay Kothari says that with the new availability of Glass 2, the company is also sharing new open source applications and code samples, which includes sample layouts and UI components so developers can independently start creating for Glass.

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The Difference Between Smartglasses & AR Glasses, and Why Everyone is Confused

Unlike AR headsets such as Microsoft HoloLens, HoloLens 2, or Magic Leap 1, Glass can only track the users head movement via its 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope, making it useful for tasks that can comfortably fit in its single-eye display, putting the smart glasses in stark contrast to more immersive, stereoscopic AR headsets that can track positional movement.

Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 chipset running Android Oreo and 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Its single 8MP camera boasts an 80° field of view. Since its made for industry, its both water and dust resistant, and can clip onto a variety of frames, including an optional titanium band.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.

  • cool!

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  • johngrimoldy

    You’re still going to look like an asshole wearing these in public. That has not changed.

    • Adderstone VR

      It’s like you almost read the article. Meant for enterprise not coffee shops

  • Meh

  • Xron

    Xr1 is dissapointing its meant for low/medium end products and for that price.. 1k$ they could try xr2…
    I understand they didnt have it (Xr2) while developing this product, but they could use some kind of replacement for time being, because using old tech on new device doesn’t give proper experience. (except switch maybe, though or me its still way underpowered)

  • ale bro

    i don’t get why it looks like a pair of spectacles, it should be a monocle.

    as someone who has perfect vision, i have no interest in wearing fake lenses.

    • RedcoatTrooper

      Yeah because wearing a monocle will stop people from laughing at them, the point is to blend in.

      • ale bro

        this is for enterprise not for consumers