Google Glass: How It Will Look 
 
 What would it be like to wear Google Glass? Google answered that very question this morning, posting a lot more information about Project Glass, including the user interface, through a series of photos and videos. 
 
 You can see the UI and some of the features of Glass in the gallery, although they don't quite capture the exact experience. The headset doesn't actually have lenses in front of your eyes, just a small screen (viewable via a mirrored glass block) above and to the right of the wearer's right eye. As such, the point-of-view images that show a large action window in the center of the field of view are a little misleading. 
 
 Still, the photos, posted on Google's Project Glass website, show more about how Glass works than any photo of the hardware could convey. The video (below) shows even more: Commanding the headset is as easy as uttering the words "OK, Glass," a clever use of real-world speech to engage the device's listening mode. 
 
 SEE ALSO: How Google Glass Could Change Advertising 
 
 Once engaged, Glass is capable of taking photos, recording videos, looking up answers on Google, showing reminders (such as for a flight) and sharing whatever you're looking at — either via messaging or through a Google+ Hangout. As Google co-founder Sergey Brin himself revealed previously, Glass will also have an automatic picture-taking mode, snapping pics at a preset intervals (such as every 5 seconds). 
 
 Google also launched a contest with its own hashtag (#ifihadglass), challenging anyone to come up with creative uses for Google Glass that can be explained in 50 words or fewer. Winners will get the chance to buy their own, along with developers, when they become available. The price: $1,500, plus tax. 
 
 Are you impressed with how Google Glass works? Let us know in the comments. 
 
 Images courtesy of Google ||||| Photo 
 
 Google is letting a larger segment of the public test its futuristic eyeglasses. 
 
 On Wednesday, Google said it was accepting applications for people who wanted to try the glasses, which had previously been available only to software developers who signed up for them at Google’s developer’s conference last year. 
 
 Google also released a few details about the glasses, which it calls Google Glass, some of which it had already publicized. They can take pictures or record video hands-free, show walking directions, search the Web and send messages by voice, offer translations and show alerts like a flight delay. 
 
 People who want a pair of the glasses before they are publicly available must apply by Feb. 27 by writing a post on Google Plus or Twitter of 50 words or fewer with the hashtag #ifihadglass. Applicants can include photos or video and an explanation of what they might do with the glasses. 
 
 “We’re looking for bold, creative individuals who want to join us and be a part of shaping the future of Glass,” the company posted on Google Plus. 
 
 Those chosen by Google’s judges must pay $1,500 for the glasses and attend a pick-up event in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles. 
 
 In a video released Wednesday, Google offered some of its own ideas about what to do with the glasses. A ballerina could stream live video behind the scenes and onstage, a tourist in Thailand could ask Google to translate “delicious” while eating noodles on a boat or a family could video chat with a long-distance relative on her birthday. ||||| Smartphones have Google Goggles, an image-recognition search app, but consumers may one day have “Google glasses.” Google has introduced Project Glass, a concept for glasses that integrate directly with Google services. It may sound like a silly project, but there’s a reason the device makes sense. 
 
 Smartphones already have Google Goggles, an image-recognition search app, but consumers may one day have “Google glasses.” The search company publicly introduced Project Glass on Wednesday, a concept for wearable glasses that integrate directly with Google services. 
 
 Google is sharing this video to kickstart ideas and gather feedback for the connected, wearable device concept. It may sound like a silly project, but when you think about it, the device actually makes sense. 
 
 The initial design vision is for lightweight frames that don’t actually have full-sized, traditional glass lenses. Instead, a small display is available up and to the outside of the right eye so that information doesn’t interfere with viewing the world around. And as shown in the video, there would be some type of eye-tracking mechanism allowing users to interact with data on the small display — similar to a touchpad tap — although much of the interface could be controlled through spoken commands. 
 
 
 
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 As silly as the idea may look or sound to some, I find merit in the approach, as it seems like a logical next step. We have gone from immobile desktops to portable laptops and now we are toting tablets and pocketable smartphones. Where can we go from here if not to the growing number of connected, wearable gadgets that we have been reporting on for well over a year? 
 
 From a consumer perspective, Project Glass also forwards another theme that has been growing. Touchable user interfaces have reinvented how we use mobile devices, but hardware design is advancing to the point where the interfaces are starting to disappear. Instead of holding an iPad or other tablet, people are interacting directly with an app, Web page, photo or other digital object in a reduced interface, with either voice or minute gestures. In essence, such glasses would allow people to digitally interact with the physical world around them without a device or user interface getting in the way. 
 
 This quote, told to the New York Times from someone who tried the glasses, says it better than I can: 
 
 They let technology get out of your way. If I want to take a picture I don’t have to reach into my pocket and take out my phone; I just press a button at the top of the glasses and that’s it. 
 
 I expect that any first-production version of these glasses would heavily leverage a smartphone’s connectivity, much like many smart watches do today. The glasses would likely have a low-powered wireless connection to a phone, which would provide Internet connectivity, a place to store photos or a way to shoot them to the cloud, a GPS for location purposes, and so on. 
 
 Think of these spectacles as the next iteration of a smartphone, just one that you can wear and not look geeky. Well, not too geeky anyway. I’m all for wearable gadgets, so if Google is looking for beta testers, I’m in. How about you?
– Google gave the public its first taste of how it would feel to strap on its much-anticipated digital glasses, releasing photos and a video showing off the system's capabilities and user interface. Users are shown taking video and photos, performing searches, and overlaying directions, weather, and flight info over their field of vision. The system is voice-controlled, activated with a cheerful, "OK Glass," Mashable reports. The device will consist of a single, small screen, positioned over the user's right eye and visible via a mirrored glass block. Google also started taking applications for civilian beta testers, the New York Times reports—until now only developers could get their hands on it—though it will cost $1,500 and be available only to a select few. To apply, would-be early adopters need to post a 50-words-or-less application on Google+ or Twitter with the hashtag #ifihadglass. Those selected will have to pick up their headset in person at events in New York, LA, or San Francisco.