Google Glass, the augmented reality spectacles first introduced in 2013, is being re-launchedOpens a new window in the enterprise market.
The computerized eyewear will compete with Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 augmented-reality headset, which was launched three months ago to target industries such as manufacturing, transport and warehousing.
A range of other innovators such as Realware and Vuzix are also selling wearable technology for use at work.
The original Google Glass targeted the consumer market, but was withdrawn in 2015 because the glasses were ridiculed and perceived as unwieldy and expensive, plus there were privacy concerns about an always-on camera attached to the glasses. Some users were even derided as “Glassholes.â€
Since then, the Google Glass Enterprise Edition has found its way into the workplace, offering hands-free help with tasks and a constant flow of information and tools.
Workers use Glass to view checklists and instructions and to send inspection photos and videos.
If the technology can gain currency in the workplace, its use may spread into people’s daily lives and become a consumer product through the back door.
The Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, which was launched this week, improves on the previous Google Glass Edition.
It has a Snapdragon XR1 microprocessor with four cores, each running at 1.7 GHz and offers AI and computer vision while consuming less power. A battery life of eight hours between charges is promised, and the camera has been improved as well.
The speech-operated glasses allow workers to carry out tasks without juggling a tablet or mobile phone, offering considerable flexibility. They also offer a range of applications and accessories.
At $999 each, Edition 2 is far cheaper than the $3,500 Microsoft HoloLens 2 and is also a good deal smaller and lighter.
It projects images in front of the wearer’s eye, creating the impression of a visual floating over the real world. But Edition 2 only projects images in front of one eye while HoloLens 2 offers images for both eyes.
Google says in a blogOpens a new window that Edition 2 is easy to deploy and develop applications for because it runs on the Android platform, making it easier for customers to integrate services and APIs that they already use.
The new product also offers Mobile Device Management, allowing it to be integrated into a company’s mobile infrastructure.
The first enterprise edition has been implemented as standard at the DHL Supply Chain logistics company, and the company is using Opens a new window the eyewear at more warehouses after an initial testing program conducted internationally.
The smart glasses provide visual displays of instructions for picking orders from warehouse shelves. They offer information on where items are located and where they need to be placed on a cart, allowing work to be carried out without pieces of paper or mobile devices in hand.
DHL says the international trials improved productivity by 15% and offered higher accuracy rates.
Microsoft HoloLens is in useOpens a new window at Lockheed Martin for constructing spacecraft. Wearing the headset, a worker uses images projected on to the lenses to mark the locations of 309 fasteners for a panel. A job that usually takes 2 days was reduced to 2½ hours with the HoloLens, the company said.
These are significant developments, but augmented reality glasses are still considered to be clunky and expensive. While there are specific tasks where the glasses are helpful to work hands-free, for many jobs it is just as easy to use mobile devices.
Manufacturing and warehousing are big industries, but employ just under a fifth of workers in many countries. This limits the chances that the use of wearables will spread to the consumer market.
Google is attempting to engineer a new future for glasses technology in a similar way that Apple has tried with the smart watch.
But augmented reality headsets will need to become a good deal lighter, more powerful and less expensive to replace the mobile phone as an indispensable piece of consumer technology.