Google's rumored heads-up display glasses should become real this year, insiders maintained Tuesday. Multiple staffers told the New York Times that the Android-based glasses would go on sale in 2012 and cost as much as typical smartphones, which the newspaper interpreted as between $250 to $600. Google was being careful to phrase the project as a public experiment and not an attempt to fully establish a new category.
Functionally, the glasses should have a cellular link as well as motion and GPS sensors to fill out their augmented reality approach. Head tilts would be used to navigate the interface. Its interface would avoid the traditional web browser or other smartphone interface layers, and they weren't meant to be worn non-stop.
Google Latitude developer Steve Lee was directly linked to the project and was making location content a heavy focus, the sources claimed. Privacy was a concern, and it was likely the glasses would make it clear if the camera was recording content.
The project, said to look like the Oakley Thump line of MP3 player glasses, was already known to be the result of Google X, a semi-secret wing of the company that has been developing self-driving cars and other technologies that won't immediately translate to products. Glasses and other wearable computing are areas where Google wouldn't face much competition from Apple, Microsoft, and others.
via Source