Google unveils Google Glass, an augmented Reality Glasses

Google has revealed its long-rumored plans to create augmented reality (AR) eyeglasses.

It’s like watching a sci-fi movie, where a person a just watch an object and can get details about that object. Augmented reality is a live, direct or indirect view of a physical environment that's augmented by computer-generated input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.

Work on the AR glasses is preceding as Project Glass, which is part of the Google X Lab, a facility run by Google said to be somewhere in California's Bay Area where about 100 leading-edge projects are reportedly being undertaken.

The scientists behind Project Glass are Babak Parviz, Steve Lee and Sebastian Thrun. They asked for viewer feedback on a video they posted on YouTube.

How do they work:

The video is shot from the point of view of someone wearing a pair of AR glasses. The wearer can apparently take a phone call while wearing the glasses, listening and speaking with the caller, whose avatar or photo pops up on one lens of the glasses. The wearer can also transmit what he or she sees during the conversation. For example, looking out of the window triggers data about the weather that's shown on the lens.

Looking at objects while walking pulls up information on the lens. For example, when the wearer passes a subway station, a notice that service had been suspended is called up a Google Map showing a walking route.

A Siri-like voice application puts up information in response to questions. For example, when the user walked into a bookstore and asked where the music section was, a map indicating that section came up on the lens.

The user can also instruct the glasses to take a photo.

Project Glass seems to incorporate features from Google Maps, Android's voice response system, Google's geo location service and other features.

Innovating objects like these gives companies an advantage over its peers as nowadays people have taste and power to buy any ground breaking innovative products.