Google teases the possibility of Google Glass after a decade of its debut
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, teased a smart eyewear prototype that can translate languages in real-time at the company’s I/O conference. Pichai demonstrated augmented reality glasses that “take its advances and transcriptions” and present them right in front of the user’s eyes in a video.
While the glasses are only a prototype, Google claims they will be able to provide real-time language translations to the wearer. It’s uncertain whether Google’s glasses will ever be released, but the prototype shows where the company believes augmented reality may be useful.
After a restricted launch, expensive initial cost, and privacy issues, Google Glass was undesirable to most users. The wearable’s first iteration had two issues. The gear, for starters, was just not ready. Second, the corporation never really understood the product’s “why” – at least not enough to justify its high price. Because of these issues, it was never popular outside of the development community.
The first portion has had enough time to be addressed – almost a decade. In terms of the second element, the promo video provides a persuasive solution to the question: translation. It’s unclear how fully-featured these specifications will be if they ever get to the market, but having live, IRL subtitles on a wearable heads-up display would be a very big deal thing if done well.
There are still concerns about efficacy, cost, and other factors, but if the execution is good, it’s easy to see some real value in this product. It combines augmented reality hardware with the company’s long-standing expertise in translation and transcription software.
However, unlike the slew of announcements of other products such as the Pixel 6a, the Pixel Watch, a new Tensor-powered tablet, and a tease of the Pixel 7, Google isn’t committing to bringing the Google Glass to market. The video, at this point, can only be considered a way of market research, to gauge public interest in the product.
