We’re still a little while away from Google pushing out the developer kits to the Glass Explorers program, but it feels like we learn a little more about this wearable tech each day. A photo surfaced this week that gives a better look at how you would use Glass when put in direct sunlight.
The whole point behind Glass is that you’d be wearing it all the time. Walking down the street, riding a bike, driving a car, pretty much any time you could benefit from having both hands free. Glass works by projecting a tiny image on to a specially cut piece of glass so that your eye catches the reflection. The result is faint ghost like images that float just inside your field of vision, making your data available to you whenever you need it.
This is a great idea indoors, but there’s no way that the projector in the slender Glass units is powerful enough to deliver content to you when you are outside on a bright day. In most situations, that faint image is enough, but if you find yourself competing with direct sunlight, Glass is more than likely going to lose that fight. Unless, of course, there’s something covering the other side of the piece of glass.
Two cyclists were photographed outdoors wearing Google Glass, but their headsets are just a little bit different than the others we’ve seen so far. Where previously we’ve seen the little piece of transparent glass sticking out beside the camera, here we see the same shape but completely black. These would work separately from the clip on shades that have been seen already on Glass units, as it puts the shade on the other side of the projector surface. A translucent cover on the external face of Glass would allow users to comfortably use the headset even when the sun is right in front of them, as it would create enough shade for the light from the projector to hit the reflective cut in the glass without being diffused.
It’s also possible that this version of Glass is using the same photochromic material used in traditional transitions lenses, and that this is just the first we’re seeing of this version. We know that the X labs have been constantly trying new things on the hardware leading up to the final launch, and this is the first we’ve seen of Glass units with anything other than a clear piece of glass at the projector site, even in direct sunlight.
As we get closer to the launch of the Glass Explorer Program, details like these are sure to become more clear.