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Glass hole to glass act: Can a Google Glass redesign help it succeed?

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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

February 13, 2015 | 5 min read

Following its highly public unveiling in 2012 Google Glass went from being the most coveted piece of wearable tech to explode on the scene – it counted designer Dianne Von Furstenburg among its early fans – to the subject of ridicule; remember the White Men That Wear Google Glass Tumblr page? Yet its sudden shelving following the removal of Glass from the Explorer programme came as something of a surprise, not least to brands including Tesco which just last month launched a shopping app for the smart eyewear.

According to a report by the New York Times last week Glass is to be “redesigned form scratch” under the eye of new boss Tony Fadell, who said the new iteration won’t be released until “it’s perfect”. Here chiefs from Seymourpowell, Kinneir Dufort and PearsonLloyd discuss the fate of Google Glass.

Peter Fullagar, head of innovation at design consultancy Kinneir Dufort, said one of the reasons Google hit the pause button on Glass was spurred by the lack of choice in design for a product that needs to be worn on the face.

“Your face is such an important part of who you are and how you project your personal identity to the rest of the world,” he commented. “Of all the parts of the body we accessorise and dress, the face is where we are most sensitive. We spend hours each season trying on sunglasses that we really only wear for a short period.

“The sunglasses market is swamped with options and until the technology companies give us the same level of choice they will struggle to find a market…unless it has a strong and obvious function.”

This lack of attractive design is a point reinforced by Luke Pearson, co-founder of design agency PearsonLloyd, who said that Google Glass would be more successful if the technology was used as a “parasite” to existing glasses already out in the market, and also expressed an issue with privacy surrounding Glass’ ability to record.

“I for one, have no desire to have my face moulded to look like everybody else’s by wearing a piece of built-in technology that is aesthetically prescriptive,” he said. “The culture of glasses design suggests other people may feel the same. I’d also want to see a great red flashing light so I knew when I may be being recorded and could silently walk the other way.”

But the issue isn’t just with design. Despite hailing Google Glass MK1 as a “brave attempt” in terms of reinventing the Man Machine Interface (MMI), Matthew Cockerill, associate design director at Seymourpowell, said that Google has to address “three fundamental issues”, performance, privacy and the perception of wearing it, that will allow consumers to embrace such a new kind of behaviour and technology.

“Whilst Google Glass gave ‘good demo’ in its present form, helping us navigate, keeping us notified, taking photos and searching the internet for answers without reaching into our pocket, that’s just not valuable enough,” he said.

“[Privacy] has also been a big concern amongst people interacting with Glass wearers. Some commentators have suggested losing the camera may help. But Facebook revolutionised our attitude to privacy and sharing by showing how it can be beneficial to all participants. The new version of Glass will need to work out ways of making the product more mutually beneficial to the wearer and the observer.”

So what have we learnt from Google’s first attempt at Glass? “We are just not ready….yet,” added Fullagar. “All major advances in technology have had a pre runner that was just too far ahead of the curve to translate for market at its time of launch, and the same applies here.

“We need to learn to talk to products without stigmatisms. We need to learn to use and be enthused by augmented reality, Oculus Rift being a good example to bridge this space and the new Microsoft HoloLens. Once everyone is ready for it, they will be happily led there."

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