Google's Project Glass: Augmented Reality Glasses!

If you've fallen prey to the April Fool's joke Gmail Tap or last year's Gmail Motion, then you'll probably be skeptical about Google's Project Glass -- a voice-activated technology that you would wear like glasses, especially since the idea has just been launched so close to April 1st.  This gadget would enable you to send text messages, have video chat, check the weather, play and record media,  and would also be integrated to Google Maps and Google+.  But it's not an April Fool's joke. Google is serious about this one. They share their vision of what the technology would be like in the short video below. Be sure to watch it to the end because it's like one of those Pixar movies -- it goes for the heart.

Awesome video right? This device has a lot of potential aside from what they've just shown in the video. It has a forward-facing camera so it could have something like Fully Booked's Imagine app, transforming what you see into things that were only figments of your imagination. More practically, the camera could help people with eyesight problems as it could zoom and focus on things they would otherwise not be able to see.

A design study for the Glasses

But what I love the most about this idea is that it's hand-free. That alone opens up so many possibilities with this device. Up to now, sharing your experiences as they happen hinders you from experiencing them fully. Because if you're taking pictures, recording video, or texting someone about some awesome thing you're seeing right now, then you're distracted from it.  If you've gone to a concert of your favorite band, you know that taking a video of the performance with your phone takes away from the experience, as half the time you're looking at your phone. But with this gadget you could focus your full attention to enjoying the show and take the video at the same time. And maybe even share the video live with your friends via a Google+ Hangout. 

This technology is promising, but of course there are some concerns.  Would the display on the glasses make it hard for the eyes to focus, causing eye strain? The best thing about the device is it's hands-free, but can the voice recognition be accurate enough?  Won't the display be too distracting?  If it was any other company developing this technology, I would have my doubts about the device actually being produced.  But this is the same company who made a car that drives itself and showed that it works. I'm sure they could manage.