Google designing augmented reality glasses [Rumour]

While augmented reality apps have yet to hit the cellphones of most of the population, the people over at Google are reportedly moving on — to eyewear. Sources say the company is designing glasses that could display information on everything from a friend’s location to the name of the nearest street right before your eyes.

The New York Times says the glasses are being developed in a secret lab near the Google offices and will be available to the public by the end of the year. They will reportedly retail for between US$250 and $600 (approximately R1930 — R4600), run on an Android operating system and includes GPS, motion sensors and 3G or 4G capabilities. Reports vary about whether the glasses will be transparent or not, or if only one lens will be used to display information.

Google envisions that the glasses, reminiscent of the type of tech seen in Hollywood films, could be used in conjunction with a user’s smart phone, and would not be worn constantly. The company still needs to address some privacy concerns, as users could film people with the built-in camera without their knowledge.

The Google employees involved in the project supposedly include none other than co-founder Sergey Brin and Google Latitude creator Steven Lee. Latitude, Google’s geographically-based check in and location sharing service, would be just one of the Google products integrated into the glasses.

The secret lab (nicknamed ‘Google X’) is reportedly focused on creating other innovative prototypes that include driverless cars and space elevators. Google also recently started ‘Solve for X’ a forum to discuss radical ideas for future technology that could solve major world problems.