Google has unveiled the latest hands-free photo features from its Project Glass augmented reality glasses.
The glasses also have a camera built into the arm – used by project leader Sebastian Thrun to capture a picture of his son.
As the Project Glass team points out, the head-worn camera is ideal for “the types of moments you’d capture if you didn’t have to wait to pull out a camera or your phone.”
“We announced Project Glass in part to let our team start testing prototypes outside the office,” said the Project Glass team, via its Google Plus page, “Sebastian Thrun, one of our project leaders, tried one out last weekend and we just had to share the result.”
Thrun is a former professor at Stanford and Carnegie Melon, and currently the head of Google X, the top-secret team behind such efforts as Street View, Google’s self-driving car program and now Project Glass.
Google offered a first glimpse into the photo capabilities of the eyewear last month, when Thrun took a photo with Charlie Rose during a TV interview, and posted it on Google+ were it showed up instantly.
This interview also had Thrun noting that it’s not photography but the sharing of everything that’s been seen thus far as the most compelling use-case for the project thus far.
Google’s nowhere near a public release of Project Glass, but they’re confident enough in its concept that they’re letting senior employees test it outside the office. Google co-founder Sergey Brin showed off a pair at a conference last month.
In addition, Google+ chief Vic Gundotra has jumped on the augmented reality bandwagon too. Gundotra was snapped sporting a Project Glass prototype by colleague Bradley Horowitz, though his feedback on the headset was minimal: “Having a fun day at work today. Go Project Glass!” he wrote.
Read the official blog post here