Glass is a head-mounted Internet-connected computer from Google that takes the form of a pair of glasses, projecting text and images to a prism above the right eye. It can be controlled via voice and a touch pad on the right arm, can transmit sound by bone conduction through vibrations via the skull to the inner ear and features a camera to take pictures and video. Glass is an example of wearable technology and is a step towards ubiquitous computing – the concept of computing being everywhere at all times, in a seamless integration of technology into everyday life.

Glass has similar applications to a smartphone, with the benefit of being hands-free. Worn as spectacles, users give commands by speaking, saying “O.K., Glass…” to choose from a series of commands, ranging from taking a picture to searching the Internet, using Google Maps and making phone calls. Apps developed by third parties can be downloaded which give further functionality, including fitness trackers, games, music players, messaging and blog feeds.

Glass was developed in Google X, a research and development facility in Mountain View, California, for projects which Google consider to not have an immediately apparent business model, but potential applications for the future. Google X is headed by Dr Astro Teller, founder in 1999 of BodyMedia, a medical and consumer technology company specialising in wearable body monitoring systems. Teller joined Google in 2010 and BodyMedia went on to be acquired in 2013 by wearable technology firm Jawbone.

Google first unveiled Glass from their Google X labs in April 2012, via photos and a concept video on the Google+ social network. Through a series of publicity stunts, including streaming live video from Glass worn during a parachute jump, and relaying a Diane von Furstenberg catwalk show, the technology entered public consciousness. It was sold to the public through Google’s Explorer programme, a limited release to those interested in the early adoption of technology who also had the ability to pay a correspondingly high financial price. Purchases were made through an application process that included a question about what the buyer would use them for. Glass was available in the USA from 15 April 2013 and then the UK in May 2014.

The launch of Glass raised questions about privacy, with non-users being concerned that they would be photographed or filmed by wearers, and safety issues were raised such as being distracted while driving. Their high cost ($1500 in America and £1000 in the UK) limited their adoption, often being equated with being a status symbol for those wearing them. These problems combined to cause resentment among some non- wearers and led to users being labelled with the slang term “glasshole”.

Google withdrew Glass from public sale on 19 January 2015, reporting that the technology would be moving out of its Google X incubator labs into a separate division, under the guidance of Tony Fadell. Fadell is the chief executive of Nest Labs, a company bought by Google in January 2014; he previously worked on Apple’s first iPod music player in the early 2000s. Nest Labs created the Nest Learning Thermostat, which DAD has in its collection as a product of the Internet of Things (CD.13-2014). Google is currently developing Glass for use within the private sector, where experiments continue with its use in medical surgeries, manufacturing and by utility workers, giving the ability to access data and record and transmit video hands-free.

Glass as compliments a number of DAD acquisitions reflecting wearable technologies. Glass raises issues regarding privacy, digital etiquette and ethics of using wearable tech devices in public and for these reasons it has been featured in the ‘Civic Objects’ display of DAD’s 2015 exhibition ‘All of This Belongs to You’.