Many critics viewed Google Glass as an expensive failure in the consumer market soon after the product launched in February of 2013. The lack of practicality coupled with its hefty $1,500 price tag rendered it unfavorable to the public.
In a sad 2015 announcement, Google shut down the Google Glass website, leaving users with a short thanks for “exploring with us” and later promised that “the journey doesn’t end here.” Since the product was taken off the market, Google Glass Explorers’ Edition remained low key.
However, despite pulling the product from the public market, Alphabet continued to supply Google Glass to US companies including, GE, Boeing, DHL, and AGCO. The pair of trendy glasses slowly found its calling in the enterprise market.
Google Glass is the comeback we didn’t expect in 2017 https://t.co/NQZbijK3It pic.twitter.com/m3lPcdZmid
— Fast Company (@FastCompany) July 19, 2017
In the hands of AGCO, Google Glass was able to reduce production times by 25 percent, while healthcare professionals found that using the product reduced paperwork loads by 20 percent. As a result, doctors were able to spend 50 percent more time with patients. Meanwhile, DHL also shared their improved working experience with Google Glass, claiming that they were able to increase supply chain efficiency by 15 percent.
After making improvements to the Glass design and hardware, Alphabet X–Google’s “Moonshot” research and development subsidiary– reintroduced the eyewear with the name Glass Enterprise Edition. This latest version of Glass is easy to detach which makes it more shareable and affordable when deployed to different industries. It includes an impressive updated camera module with an improved resolution from 5 megapixels to 8. The new device also boasts a longer battery life, coupled with a powerful processor and an improved user interface.
With GEE, it seems that Google has learned from the short comings of its once experimental Glass product and invested in a field where the device isn’t a mere trendy accessory, but a tool representing innovation and advancement in many fields.