The Google Glass Foundry went down today — what, exactly, is Google hiding? [POLL]
If you don’t remember, Google’s Glass Foundry developers’ workshop commenced in San Francisco today, and a tight group of developers shuffled over there to get a look at something Google is treating like a top secret military project. It’s not that we’ve never seen Google Glass before — geeky Googlers have no problem strutting the streets of the world showing them off — but whatever Google talked about today was so sensitive that the company made developers sign an NDA that would scare any soul.
Unfortunately, because of that NDA, we haven’t had any luck in trying to figure out what went on behind closed doors today. What do you think Google is showing off? Is a new prototype with actual features being shown off (camera and uploading are a given, but it’s literally the only thing we’ve seen thus far)? Did Google give developers a disc chock full of application samples and code which fulfill the vision originally put forth by the video above? Did Google create the world’s first unsolvable “Where’s Waldo” puzzle?
Anything could have happened, but without any developers willing to come forward (hint, hint) we can’t say for sure. I personally think Google finally showed off the use cases that we were all originally excited for in working form, and that they showed developers how to tap into the primitive power of the frames to get started on some early prototypical apps for Glass. I’d guess that they also had an updated version of Glass to finally show off and give to developers that included tech like laser-projected keyboards and bone-conduction audio. That’s an easy guess, of course, but what else is a developers’ workshop for?
The scrooge in me might also guess that Google simply doesn’t have anything more than what we’ve already seen — a so-so head-mounted camera that can upload images straight to Google+. Perhaps Google is so ashamed that it’s taking so long to get other apps going on the platform that it doesn’t want anyone to know. The Mountain View company certainly hasn’t given us much reason to believe otherwise yet, so it’s a fair question, I’d say.
We’d love to be proven wrong on that, though, and be told that something truly amazing really is being brewed up behind the walls of that impenetrable Californian fortress. What say you? Is Google enforcing this strict NDA for a good reason or do they just want to save themselves from PR hell? Sound off in the poll and comments section below!
[polldaddy poll=6861004]