Google glass

Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project, with a mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format, that can communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands.

Google provides four prescription frame choices for about $225.00 U.S. It is necessary to remove a small screw in order to move the Google Glass from one frame to another. Google is also partnering with eyewear company Luxottica, owners of the Ray-Ban and Oakley brands, among others, to offer additional frame designs.

Glass is being developed by Google X, which has worked on other technologies such as driverless cars. The project was announced on Google+ by Project Glass lead Babak Parviz, an electrical engineer who has also worked on putting displays into contact lenses; Steve Lee, a product manager and "geolocation specialist"; and Sebastian Thrun, who developed Udacity as well as worked on the autonomous car project. Google has patented the design of Project Glass. Thad Starner, an augmented reality expert, is a technical lead/manager on the project.

View From Google glass 

Touchpad

A touchpad is located on the side of Google Glass, allowing users to control the device by swiping through a timeline-like interface displayed on the screen.Sliding backward shows current events, such as weather, and sliding forward shows past events, such as phone calls, photos, circle updates, etc.

Camera

Google Glass has the ability to take photos and record 720p HD video. While video is recording, the screen stays on while it is doing so.

Display

The Explorer version of Google Glass uses a Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS), field-sequential color, LED illuminated display.

The display's LED illumination is first P-polarized and then shines through the in-coupling polarizing beam splitter (PBS) to the LCoS panel. The panel reflects the light and alters it to S-polarization at active pixel sites. The in-coupling PBS then reflects the S-polarized areas of light at 45° through the out-coupling beam splitter to a collimating reflector at the other end. Finally, the out-coupling beam splitter (which is a partially reflecting mirror, not a polarizing beam splitter) reflects the collimated light another 45° and into the wearer's eye.

How Google glass works?-

Technical specifications

For the developer Explorer units:

• Android 4.0.4 and higher
• 640×360 Himax helloHX7309 LCoS display
• 5-megapixel camera, capable of 720p video recording
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth
• 16GB storage (12 GB available)
• Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 SoC 1.2Ghz Dual(ARMv7)
• 682MB RAM 
• 3 axis gyroscope 
• 3 axis accelerometer
• 3 axis magnetometer (compass)
• Ambient light sensing and proximity sensor 
• Bone conduction audio transducer

• MyGlass

  Google offers a companion Android and iOS app called MyGlass, which allows you to configure and manage your device.

Voice activation

Other than the touchpad, Google Glass can be controlled using "voice actions". To activate Glass, wearers tilt their heads 30° upward (which can be altered for preference) or tap the touchpad, and say "O.K., Glass." Once Glass is activated, wearers can say an action, such as "Take a picture", "Record a video", "Hangout with [person/Google+ circle]", "Google 'What year was Wikipedia founded?'", "Give me directions to the Eiffel Tower", and "Send a message to John" (many of these commands can be seen in a product video released in February 2013). For search results that are read back to the user, the voice response is relayed using bone conduction through a transducer that sits beside the ear, thereby rendering the sound almost inaudible to other people