Google Glass Officially declared dead

Google Glass Officially declared dead.

Although the consumer digital industry likes to use “love and peace” to package itself, the fight against consumer digital products is actually extremely cruel and unfair: some products have already caused an uproar before they are proven to exist .

Such as Apple’s VR/AR/MR devices , and some products have been forgotten by the public before being “sentenced to death” by the brand-such as Google Glass that I will talk about today.

On March 15, 2023, Google posted a notice on the Google Glass product page saying:

Thank you for over a decade ofinnovation and partnership.As of March 15, 2023, we will no longer sell Glass EnterpriseEdition. We will continue supporting Glass Enterprise Editionuntil September 15, 2023.

Google Glass Officially declared dead

Source: Internet

That’s right, Glass Enterprise Edition is dying again. Why do you say again? Because as early as 2015, the Google Glass project had already died once, but Google was repeatedly “reincarnated” by Google in 2017 and 2022.

However, judging from Google’s attitude towards such a thankless project in recent years, Google Glass is really going to be “safe in the ground”:

Although you were not a qualified pair of glasses during your lifetime, and you may not even have lenses in the traditional sense, you still made an indelible contribution to the development of AR glasses.

We won’t miss you, but now you can finally spend the rest of your life with the other two hundred projects that were shut down by Google. Farewell, Google Glass.

Unless Google pulls you up again in the future to play a resurrection game.

But then again, since Google launched the first generation of Google Glass (then called Google Project Glass) as early as 2014, according to common sense, Google should have accumulated a lot of experience in the field of AR and MR, and such a product In 2023, when the concept of MR is “popular”, it should be very popular. Why does Google have to start with Google Glass?

Google Glass Officially declared dead

Source: google

The reason is actually very simple, Google Glass is not an AR device in the modern sense at all.

Because Google Glass is too unpopular, many people may not know what this product looks like, let alone experience it in person.

So before explaining why “end of life” is the best ending for Google Glass, let’s go back to 2012 and see how high-spirited Google Glass was at that time.

Why doesn’t Google Glass keep going?

In July 2012, Google “abruptly” inserted a live broadcast at Google I/O: several wingsuit skydivers were preparing to skydive over San Francisco.

However, the jitter of this live broadcast is very serious, and it does not look like it was taken by a professional sports camera.

The cabin door was opened, and the athletes jumped into the 4,000-foot altitude of San Francisco one by one. After a series of fancy stunts, the athletes landed near a building. A door… Then came the conference room scene of Google I/O.

Google Glass Officially declared dead

Image source: Google

That’s right, this “air live broadcast” coordinated the San Francisco marketing office, police and fire departments, NASA laboratories and the FAA Federal Aviation Administration, and was filmed live by the Google Glass worn by the athletes.

High, really high, the three dimensions of creativity, effect and altitude are all high.

With this set of wonderful operations that can be included in the development history of digital product conferences, Google demonstrated the functions of Google Glass to the outside world in the shortest time and in the most direct way, and also won applause from the audience.

And Google Glass, the “unbalanced development” of the temples on both sides, and even the “glasses” image without traditional glasses lenses, has also been remembered by technology enthusiasts all over the world along with this skydiving activity.

Just like Google Glass did not use the plural form of the word “Glass”, Google Glass at that time had only one lens – a small glass “pillar” fixed in the upper right corner of the original right eye lens, which was specially designed The lenses in the reflect what is displayed on the screen in the right temple.

Google Glass Officially declared dead

Image source: Google

Simply put, Google Glass is a very small HUD that is fixed in front of the user’s eyes.

Although Google also launched an optical frame version of Google Glass, which allows users to configure Google Glass with lenses that suit their own degrees, but because the content displayed on Google Glass only appears in that very small lens, this also makes Google Glass not counted as AR glasses that meet the modern definition can only be described as an optical head-mounted display (OHMD).

Image source: Google

In 2013, Google began to conditionally provide Google Glass for developers and “extreme Google fans” at a price of $1,500.

Although the developers said that this thing had “nearly unlimited” potential, it was limited by the display, audio and battery technology at the time.

Even though Google Glass is running an open Android system, apps developed, adapted, and optimized for Google Glass are still missing.

On the one hand, there are rare buying opportunities and a high price of 1,500 US dollars, on the other hand, there are almost tasteless built-in apps and unsatisfactory display effects.

Soon everyone found the real use of Google Glass: Wearing a selfie Show off your technological aura.

If you have an impression of the technological digital circle at that time, you should have seen Google Glass borrowed to take pictures in the avatar pictures of many “tech enthusiasts”.

For the same reason, Google terminated the Google Glass project for general developers and users after just one year. However, for those large enterprises that can afford the cost of using Google Glass, Google has also left them a road called “joint development” and writing “pull the thief ship”: In 2017, Google Glass Enterprise Edition was released, the first batch of Clients include many well-known American companies, such as Boeing and General Aviation.

But unfortunately, the HTC Vive, which is cheaper, more usable, and more versatile than Google Glass, was sold globally at a price of $799 in 2016.

Why doesn’t Google Glass work?

Compared with the epoch-making HTC Vive, Google Glass has shortcomings almost everywhere except that it does not need to be plugged in to use.

This is actually understandable. After all, from 2012 to 2023, each generation of Google Glass has not been able to break away from the framework set by Google in 2012: a pair of glasses, a camera and an independent display module.

Due to technical constraints in 2012, Google Glass was not originally designed as a standalone device. Rather than saying that it is a smartphone worn on the head, it is more like a smart watch with a transparent screen hanging in front of the user : you can use it to see the weather, look at navigation information, and even complete simple tasks such as answering the phone. Interaction-Google Glass has added a touchpad to the right temple, which can support some simple click and swipe interactions.

But if you want to set up navigation to a certain place, or answer an email after reading it, unfortunately, you still need a smartphone.

And this set of product logic actually continues all the way to 2023. In this environment where VR all-in-one machines are rampant and even smart watches are particular about independent operation, Google Glass is still adhering to the product structure set ten years ago, which is really out of touch with the times.

The overly retro product concept makes Google Glass out of touch with the times, and the insistence on the OHMD route also allows Google Glass to advance rapidly in the wind that cannot take advantage of AR.

But what really pronounced the death sentence for Google Glass is actually the enterprise service that Google has been thinking about.

On the surface, Google terminated the Google Glass project because the general environment was not good. Like the “X department” (the name of the Google X laboratory after the reorganization of the Alpha bet structure), the “gold-swallowing department” that burns money and needs to reduce its manpower .

But the loss of interest and attention from business users is, in my opinion, the fundamental reason why Google stopped the Google Glass project.

In the previous “Dirty Reincarnation”, Google Glass has already decided to focus on the big business of enterprise users, which is why the second generation of Google Glass is directly named Google Glass Enterprise Edition. According to the introduction, Google has indeed found large enterprises such as general aviation, DHL, Boeing, Ford and even IKEA to cooperate with.

At this time, Google is implementing a “project” sales model for Google Glass, that is, providing enterprise customers with a one-stop service solution including hardware equipment and supporting software services.

The advantage of this sales model is that the relevant companies can “out of the box”, but the disadvantages are also obvious: Although Google Glass is not an embedded development device, Google’s sales model for large customers makes Google Glass look like a hammer buy and sell.

In addition, Google Glass itself does not perform well in terms of functionality and versatility. Instead of using Google Glass that is outdated and not necessarily easy to use, it is better to directly adopt AR devices that are more versatile.

After all, MR has become a new direction in the future, and there will only be more and more companies on the market that provide relevant technical support for MR hardware.

And Google Glass Enterprise Edition, to use an inaccurate word, “is like an iPhone 7 that cannot be upgraded, cannot be cracked, and can only be bought again if it breaks.”

If this is the case, there is some truth to the so-called “hospice care” for Google Glass.

There is no one before, and there are those who come after

Although Google Glass cannot escape the fate of being shut down by Google in the end, no matter how we evaluate it, Google Glass is still a well-deserved pioneer of AR technology .

Its appearance allows people to see the great potential of AR technology, see the potential and application prospects of AR technology, and make more people start thinking about what kind of changes AR technology can bring.

The “death” of Google Glass has once again proved to the market the iron law that hardware, content and usage scenarios are indispensable.

Regardless of whether VR, AR or MR needs better user experience, more applications and ecosystem support, it can be truly recognized by consumers and enterprises.

At this point, the mission of Google Glass is really over.

Google Glass Officially declared dead