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The head of Google’s X division has acknowledged one of the firm’s major failings in attempting to bring Google Glass to the masses.
Speaking at SXSW in Austin, Astro Teller said the Google may have directly and indirectly attracted too much attention to Google Glass with a series of publicity stunts during the Explorer program.
He said (via Mashable): "We made one really great decision, and one not so great.
”The great decision was to do the Explorer program. The thing that we did not do well is that we allowed, and sometimes even encouraged too much attention to the program."
Google surprisingly curtailed the Explorer program earlier this year, ahead of a total rethink under the watch of Nest’s Tony Fadell.
The company is believed to be debating whether to continue with the Glass initiative, amid reports the next generation device will be built completely from scratch.
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Teller defended the decision to bring Glass into the public realm, during the prototype stage in order to learn about the technology, but also gauge the societal reaction to the controversial wearable device.
He added: "[Glass] was one of those things that we had to get out into the world as soon as possible," he said. "We learned a lot of things about the tech, like the battery. It was also valuable for social testing, and I'm really grateful for all of the fearless pioneers who went on that adventure with us."
Would you like to see Google take a second shot at a Glass headset? Or do you think this Google X ‘moonshot’ should be permanently put out to pasture? Let us know below.