Remember how Google blitzed into the wearables space with Glass? Tech-watchers were feverish with excitement and the hype had peaked by the time the smart device that looked like a pair of glasses, developed by Google X, was launched. And these are the exact reasons why many were shocked when, in late-January, the company announced that Glass Explorer Edition was being taken off the shelves. Some commentators, though, contend that they saw it coming, especially because it was a premature product that had the weight of the world riding on it in terms of expectations, and thus ultimately failed to live up to the hype. Some have even written elegies even though Google announced that Glass will be back when it has been “perfected”, this time by a separate corporate division headed by Tony Fadwell—founder of Nest, the smart thermostat that Google acquired—is likely to fire up the fading expectations from the product.
However imperfect, Google Glass isn’t really a dead product, or even a dying one. As Cade Metz writes in Wired, there are many businesses that bet on the product, and are willing to do so for Glass 2.0. Metz writes of Brain Power, a start-up, which hinged itself on Google Glass software to improve social abilities of autistic children, prompting them in their engagement with other people and measuring their progress. Similarly, Augmedix helps a Google Glass-wearing doctor juggle the medical records of her many patients more efficiently. Given this, it is not surprising that the likes of Brain Power and Augmedix are pinning their hopes on Glass 2.0.
