Ogle the world through your goggles

The next time you are out walking and are lost, just speak out your destination and the route appears on the lenses of your glasses! Or, you meet a stranger and wonder where you met him last, and his name appears in a jiffy on the specs.

Dramatically freeing these fantastic possibilities from the realm of science-fiction, Google’s futuristic “Project Glass” is now getting more real. Offering its device prototypes at $1,500, Google now wants users to test out its internet-connected glasses to make it even better !

But the lucky ones to get to buy these devices first would be those attending Google’s annual conference in San Francisco for computer programmers, which began Wednesday. The rest will have to wait a year.

For the record, the project has been in development for more than two years. It is from the drawing board of Google X, the internet giant’s secret facility that had also worked out the self-driving car.

Simply put, the Project Glass is a pair of glasses with an integrated head-up display. The frame incorporates a hidden battery. Clearly, it is Google’s attempt to make the concept of wearable computing available to everyone.

So, once you wear the glasses, you would be looking through a transparent display. Since the device will be equipped with GPS and a camera, it would know where you are to help you with directions and more. Tilt your head, and you could scroll up and down, check out the nearest petrol bunk, restaurant or a friend, and even buy from an online store while you walk around! Since your ears and mouth are in close proximity to the device, Project Glass will even take your voice commands and give you back voice output.

Add motion sensors, 3G or 4G data connections, a front-facing camera and a flash, and you know why the device could be revolutionary.It could be augmented reality customised and made relevant to your surroundings.

By no means perfect in its prototype stage, Google wants computer programmers to test it out.