Arlen Mae C.

Rayos June 17, 2021

III – BSAIS Sir Ricson Que

Why Google Glass failed?

1.) What is Google Glass and why did Google invested in this technology?

Google Glass is as futuristic a gadget people have seen in recent times. It is a wearable computer
with an Optical Head-Mounted Display (OHMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass
research and development project. Glass is being developed by Google X and it’s powered by Android
OS. It can communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands. The intended purpose
of Google Glass would be hands free displaying of information and its goal is to reduce time between
intention & action. It is the first conceptualization of a mainstream augmented reality wearable eye
display by a large company. However, Google Glass is limited in scope right now as the device is very far
from being market-ready. 

Source: Md. Salim Reza Jony Manager-HR at System Engineering Ltd Follow. (n.d.). Google Glass: A Futuristic Fashion
Failure Gadget. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/mdsalimjony/google-glass-a-futuristic-fashion-failure-gadget.

2.) What were the reasons why this technology failed?

Here is highlighted few reasons for market failure and why people are found very annoying about
Google Glass. :

Fails to Meet Demand: Google is a magnificent company and they have a track record of being
absolutely crap when it comes to actually shipping hardware. If Google wants to address the price and
supply issue they will need major league production facilities, and currently they just do not have them.

Hugely Expensive: Google Glass should cost $300 not $1,500. With all the disadvantages above, $1,500
is way too much for this piece of hardware. A laptop has multiple functions, whereas Glass is essentially
a mobile device.

Terrible Battery Life: 4 hours of work in standard mode, 40 minutes when watching YouTube videos.
This is according to the technical specs, but in reality the battery life is much worse. Compared to this,
even Nexus 4 that hardly stays alive for 24 hours looks like a pretty energy-effective device.

Disorienting and Gives Headache: It is disorienting. People are unable to focus on others people or
things around. Glass is headache-inducing too; people are more or less cross-eyed when focusing on
something so close to his/her face.

The Heat: Google Glass is hot. Everyone stares at you when you wear it but, unfortunately, that is not
the reason why the Glass is on fire. Try recording a video for a little longer than 10 seconds or using
World Lens for a minute – any intensive computation makes the Glass hot.

Voice Recognition: if you are a native English speaker and live in California or in the UK, it works for you
most of the time. At least when you do not try to search for some non-English terms or send an e-mail to
your imaginary polish friend. It would also be nice to hear some feedback from Scottish users. In fact,
the worst thing about Glass voice recognition is that you cannot correct it with the keyboard. The
Reliability: The screen on device died less than in three months after we bought it.

Head-Up Display (HUD): In the world of mobile, people seem to be drifting towards larger screens, with
more functionality, and without a high-level interface, a HUD just cannot compete. Interestingly this
brings up a lot of fundamental questions about mobile interfaces.

Source: Md. Salim Reza Jony Manager-HR at System Engineering Ltd Follow. (n.d.). Google Glass: A Futuristic Fashion
Failure Gadget. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/mdsalimjony/google-glass-a-futuristic-fashion-failure-gadget.

3.) With the recent advances in technology and change in the work and learning place, do you think
there is an opportunity for Google Glass to come back?

I think there is an opportunity for Google Glass to come back because our technologies nowadays, are
constantly change and upgrades. By improving their device it may help them to comeback in market.
With the recent advances of technology, I think Google Glass has a strong potential for interacting with
the digital online world of businesses. The Google Glass technology is important in a busy workplace
because it reduces the amount of time it takes to access particular information.

4.) What do you think should Google do to be able to provide success to Google Glass?

I think Google Glass should shift focuses to target market, and expand on would be towards enterprises.
Its uses as a utility device is essential to a busy workplace by reducing the time needed to access certain
information. As both military and healthcare need a great amount of technology to maximize efficiency,
it opens up a potential market segment that the product can fill. The possibilities for Google Glass as a
professional tool are expansive. For instance, in most of the countries, military and healthcare are
monopolistic so it make sense that the buyer power is strong. Google can negotiate contracts with the
companies.
Source: https://www.cram.com/essay/Case-Study-Google-Glass/P39VJJTSY7BQQ#google_vignette