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The Reprise of AR Glasses
In April of 2013 to much fanfare, Google launched the public beta of its Augmented Reality glasses called Glass. They cost $1,500 and were mostly aimed at developers to build apps and tools for use with the platform. They flopped in the consumer market. They’ve held steady in the professional market. AR glasses are again having a moment. They may well stick this time.
So why did the first AR glasses by Google flop? Why and how did they become of interest again and what might this mean in a sociocultural context? Why is this important?
It wasn’t long after Google Glass came out that people who wore them in public were quickly labeled as “Glassholes.” To wear them was to be a sort of social outcast. Culture it seems, was not amused.
Yet Glass did survive. In a niche space. They’re still being used today. A doctor performed surgery with Glasses in Jaipur, India. And as humans like to do silly things with technology, one woman was issued a ticket in California for driving wearing Google Glass. Movie stars and rock icons wore them on stage and to publicity events. Still, they failed to capture consumer appeal. Why?
My theory, as a digital anthropologist who’s brought a number of technology products to market, is that the design was too futuristic, too obvious and no one really saw the value. How a product is designed is always…
