Google says it’s not killing off Glass completely, but wants to spend more time developing it for users.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal , Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt explained that the Glass platform is still very important to the company.
He described how strategy for Glass is now being overseen by Tony Fadell, head of Nest, Google’s connected home division.
According to Schmidt, this changing of hands is part of the company’s plan to ‘make [Glass] ready for users’.
Google killed off its Explorer program earlier this year, in hopes of rethinking the device ahead of a version 2.0 launch.
“It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google,” explained Schmidt. “We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us cancelling the whole project, which isn’t true.”
“Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it.”
Schmidt then compared Glass to Google’s self-driving car, drawing similarities between how they will both require extended development periods.
“That’s like saying the self-driving car is a disappointment because it’s not driving me around now,” said the Google chairman. “These things take time.”
Related: Google Glass is gone, farewell to the Glassholes
Google has been public about its failings with Glass, as Google X division lead Astro Teller explained last month.
“We made one really great decision, and one not so great,” said Teller.
“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.”
The Google X boss defended the company’s decision to launch Glass to the public, saying it ‘had to get [Glass] out into the world as soon as possible’.
“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.”
Is Google Glass the future of wearable tech, or will it be six feet under before 2015 is out? Let us know in the comments.
