This one slipped under my radar but I think it’s worth a mention. Back in September, Spencer Ante of the Wall Street Journal spoke with Google co-founder Sergey Brin and got a brief exclusive preview of Google Glass (sometimes mistakenly refered to as Google Glasses!). During his time wearing the Google Glass display, Sergey showed Spencer a panoramic viewing mode — a capability not previously revealed. Glass also had a debut on the runway at New York Fashion week.
Panoramic Photos
Here’s Spencer’s brief interview with Sergey. For the most part it’s nothing new, but toward the end of the video (below) Spencer wears Google Glass and enters into a panoramic viewing mode where he can spin around to view the scene in (presumably) 360 degrees. It is unclear if this is only a viewer, or if Google Glass is now capable of taking panoramic photos on its own. If it can indeed take panoramas, I’m willing to bet we’ll see it integrated with Street View in Google Maps for interesting places not accessible by Google’s Street View cars.
Google Glass on the Runway
This one is also old (from September), but worth a mention while we’re on the topic. After trying on Google Glass at a conference she attended several months ago with Sergey, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg agreed to use Glass on the runway at an event during New York Fashion Week. Models and stylists wore Google Glass prototypes and captured first-person video of the event both behind-the-scenes and on the runway itself. There’s no technical info here, but the perspective is definitely interesting — as is Google’s choice to use a fashion event to promote this sort of technology. Their position is clear, Glass is meant for everyone, not just gadget geeks.
From the Project Glass Google+ page:
Diane is a champion for innovation and effortless design, so it’s unsurprising that Glass fit seamlessly into her production. In the week leading up to her Spring 2013 show in New York, and during the show itself, everyone from stylists and models to Diane herself used Glass to capture never-before-seen footage of the creative process.
Back at Google’s annual ‘I/O’ conference, at the end of June, the company offered attendees the option to pre-order an early version of the HMD called Google Glass Explorer Edition for $1500. Based on attendance I’ve estimated around 2000 pre-orders for the Explorer Edition. Google Glass is expected to launch proper some time in 2013, though it isn’t clear if this is the exclusive Explorer Edition or a consumer-ready device.
