Google Glass Release On Track For Early 2013 For Devs

Unveiled for the first time in public earlier this year, Google Glass looked like something straight out of sci-fi movie that would allow you to be view the world through a digital visor. Project Glass promises to be the first robust wearable computing device, and looks to be on track for an early 2013 release to developers. 

"We constantly try out new ideas of how this platform can be used. There's a lot of experimentation going on at all times in Google. We're also trying to make the platform more robust. This includes making the hardware more robust and the software more robust, so we can ship it to developers early this year," said head of Google Glass's development Babak Parviz in an interview with IEEE Spectrum. 

Parviz does also state that nothing has been finalized, and that Project Glass is still in "flux." He also stated that augmented reality wasn't an immediate goal, but that it is part of the long-term plan. 

"I think in the future that augmented reality will also come into the picture. So augmented reality is exciting when you think about future generations of this type of wearable computing," Parviz said. 

Google hopes that Google Glass will allow people to take photographs as their eye sees it, without the obstructive element of a camera. With access to Google's services such as Google Now and Google+, the Mountain-View based search giant wants  users to feel like they can spontaneously connect, whether through messages, invites, or even phone calls. 

Google revealed Project Glass to the public at its I/O conference back in June 2012 with some circus-like antics as skydivers parachuted into the conference while broadcasting their fall through Google Glasses they were wearing. Google then offered developers in attendance the chance to nab an early shipment in 2013 for a cool $1,500. Google Glass won't be available to the public until 2014 at the earliest. 

What do you think of Google Glass? Gimmick or a step in the right direction?