The Next Gen Glasses: Google makes its plans to announce Glasses 2.0
In an interview earlier today from Milan, the CEO of Italian spectacle design company Luxottica, Massimo Vlan hinted that that another version of the Google Glass could be out soon. Luxottica had entered into a partnership with Google earlier in March 2014 and was also involved in the OG Google Glasses. Although Vlan was not able to give an estimated time frame for the development of the Glasses, the second generation Google Glass could be here sooner than expected.
However, there seems to be a paradigm shift it terms of Google's focus and vision on the glasses. The target segment of the glasses is moving away from the Tech Geeks to the common folks which would considerably increase their focus region.
The project that is lead by Tony Fadell, who is the head of Google's Nest Division, says that this shift in focus stemmed from the huge market for the smartphones in the world today. Fadell looks to brand Google Glasses as a consumer tech product.
He also added that this Second Generation Glasses have already been designed and now Google's team have already turned their attention to start research and work on the Third Generation.
Google also aims to make the Second Generation version much more affordable and also add suitable enhancements including improving the sound quality and display quality. Longer battery life has also been taken into consideration by Google, according to Ivy Ross, head of Google Glass.
But none of these factors were influential in deterring people from buying the glasses. Rather social stigma was seen as a great deterrent with Bars & Restaurants banning their customers from using these glasses. Users were also called as "Glassholes" and consumers identified image as a major drawback for using the glasses, including associating it from being something that would be used by stalkers.