Google Glass<\/strong> is a ground-breaking Augmented Reality gadget. It\u2019s also an item of clothing. As Google runs a contest to choose\u00a0a select few early adopters, the rest of us need to prepare for a world where friends and colleagues are wearing Google Glass<\/em> on their face. And let\u2019s say you end up being one of the lucky few. Do you want to be seen wearing one? We talked to fashion experts to discuss how the Google Glass gadget works as an accessory.<\/p>\n There are two particularly interesting things about the video. The first is that precisely one other person is seen wearing Google Glass<\/span>, and it\u2019s a fellow sky-diver covered in safety gear. The second is that one of the shots is from the POV of a model on a runway. We suspect that the first fact belies the message of the second: Runway model or no, Google Glass isn\u2019t all that great to look at.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that Google is conscious of the fashion implications of a gadget that you wear on your face, and they are trying to position it as a high end item of style. After Sergey Brin\u00a0jumped out of a zeppelin\u00a0for I\/O, the next place Google Glass debuted was\u00a0New York Fashion Week 2012.<\/p>\n But anyone who\u2019s ever tried to buy a pair of sun or regular glasses knows exactly how hard it is to make something that frames the face nicely. \u201cIf my buyer came to me and said he just purchased 1000 units that looked like the Google Glass he would be fired,\u201d says Jonathan Muller, CEO of\u00a0Gaffos.com, a retailer of designer eyewear.<\/p>\n \u201cRegarding the design as a form of function, Google Glass works, however you have to consider that people who wear glasses (or even sunglasses) wear them to fit their style profile,\u201d says Muller. \u201cIf Google Glass can meld Italian design with its current technology, they might have a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n Google Glass. So far, this is less cyberpunk and more grandpa\u2019s clip-ons.<\/p>\n Steve Jobs famously said that design is \u201cnot just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.\u201d But when it comes to something sitting on your face, what it looks like matters a whole lot.<\/p>\n \u201cGoogle is no Apple when it comes to design, the iconic white earphone, even though they could be considered a fashion are not a fashion accessory. Earphones, don\u2019t have to fit someone\u2019s face shape or match an outfit,\u201d says Muller.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s taken a futuristic approach in design, not something I would call \u2018in style\u2019,\u201d he says, \u201cAt this point the Google Glass will not appeal to the mainstream (it just seems like a forehead mounted live camera) and might be relegated to the tech crowd in Silicon Valley and New York.\u201d<\/p>\n That may not be such a problem for Google for now, says\u00a0Jay Owens, an analyst and researcher with\u00a0Face. \u201cIt\u2019s as non-offensive as it could possibly be. It\u2019s fine \u2013 and that\u2019s not faint praise at all,\u201d she says. \u201cThe whole point is for it to disappear as \u2018techie thing\u2019 or \u2018status symbol\u2019 and to become essential, can\u2019t-live-without infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n Until Google Glass does disappear, it\u2019s going to look weird when you look at someone using one. The fact of having one will mark you out as exclusive and special. It\u2019s not dissimilar to the signalling of high end watches. \u201cWatches are rarely fashion at all, they\u2019re just a way of saying \u2018Look I have \u00a310,000 round my wrist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n If anything, Owens says, Google Glass may have jumped the gun by offering even different colours this early in the game. \u201cPerhaps it\u2019s just because, as the first device of its kind on the market, emotionally I want it to present a singular, crystal clear vision: \u2018This. Is It.\u2019 I want to be seduced by the idea, or by technology, or even just the abstracted notions of \u2018interface\u2019 or \u2018seamless digital-physical worlds\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Owens worries more about what it will be like to interact with someone who is wearing Google Glass. Though the most recent video shows off people recording what they\u2019re doing and making use of things like driving apps to be more present, you may recall the\u00a0<\/p>\nTo start, let\u2019s examine, Google Glass promo video, called\u00a0How it Feels<\/em>.<\/h3>\n
Depending on who you ask, Google Glass either comes in too many or not enough colours.<\/h3>\n