Why did Google create Google Glass, its glasses with a heads-up display
To hear Sergey Brin, Google co-founder, explain it, it was to prevent social isolation.
He got on stage Wednesday at the $7,500-a-seat TED conference in Long Beach, Calif., and looked down, pretending to use his smartphone. “That is why we created this form factor,†he said.
He said rubbing the screens of buttonless and knobless phones was strange. “I feel like it’s kind of emasculating,†he said. “You are just rubbing this featureless piece of glass. There isn’t anything to feel.â€
“You want something that frees your eyes,†he said. Also, he said, “We wanted to free up your ears.†The sound goes straight to your cranium.
He said original prototypes did not have a camera built in, clearly a flaw. He said, “It’s been really magical to capture moments spent with my family and kids that I would never have done with a camera or a phone, on a swing, in the air, whatever situation.â€
But he also discovered a drawback to the glasses. When he takes out his phone, he said, “I look as if I have something very important to do. This takes away that excuse.â€
The company will sell the glasses for $1,500 each to people who write a convincing essay on what they will use the glasses for.
