Tech Guide goes hands on, and eyes on, with Google Glass

Glass, Google’s wearable device that keeps you connected and informed, has been showcased in Australia and Tech Guide got a chance to try it out.

Worn like a pair of glasses, the product has a built-in camera, a small display, a narrow touch pad and a bone conduction transducer.

Glass is designed to bring you information and data relevant to your location literally to your eyeline.

And with a built-in camera, Glass can also document what you’re seeing and doing either in pictures and videos.

But unlike a Go Pro camera that can also capture a user’s point of view, Glass is little more discreet and also connects directly to your smartphone to link to the internet.

Tech Guide had a hands-on session with Google Glass and found the device to be quite lightweight – it only weighs 50g.

When we put in on our head it didn’t feel any different to wearing a pair of sunglasses. The rail that forms the frame can be used to attached subscription glass or sunglasses.

Judge for yourself how we looked wearing Google Glass. While it’s not massive, Glass is very easy to notice.

But it’s no worse than holding a smartphone to the side of your head to make a call, we suppose. Or wearing a pair of glasses or sunglasses.

The right side of Glass is where all of the electronics are located.

On the front is a small display that can be easily seen if you focus on it a few centimetres in front of your eye.

The display was surprisingly sharp and could be easily viewed as if I was looking at a TV in the near distance.

And the good news is that you can also look through the display as well as beyond the display so you can still see where you are going.

The side panel is actually the control panel that responds to taps and swipes to move through various screens and menus.

It’s also voice controlled and provides spoken feedback that is relayed and heard using the bone conduction transducer instead of a traditional microphone and earphones.

The audio is heard through the bone in your skull and your voice is also relayed in the same way.

Having the display over your eye means you can access information hands-free when you’d normally reach for your smartphone and use the touchscreen to access the same information.

It can be used to give you information relevant to where you are or what you’re doing.

You can ask what the temperature is, if there any cafes nearby and it is all presented to the Glass display with your smartphone still in your pocket.

Glass can display a map or information about your location and translate signs and phrases on the spot.

The device can access virtually any information Google can generate and make it available to you instantly – and all while staying hands free.

You can shoot video and take pictures and share it with your friends on the spot hands-free. It’s also possible to share live video of what you’re seeing live to your friends.

App developers are also busily at work creating “Glass-ware” that will work with the device.

There is no exact release date for Google Glass as it is still in development but it will be available sometime in 2014.

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