The latest mixed and augmented reality tech will change the way we view the world

Words by Ailsa Harvey

© Microsoft

When Google released ‘Google Glass’ in 2013, it was a novelty. The era of smart glasses was yet to really begin, and the idea of wearing this technology was largely scoffed at. Wearable technology varies from watches that count the steps you take in a day to heart-rate monitors for medical monitoring and intelligent fabrics that adapt to their surroundings. However, there’s something about incorporating the key human sense of sight with this evolved technology that crosses the line between human and machine.

Smart glasses overlay information and graphics onto the real world. The result can be both a surreal blend and a beneficial tool. Google Glass demonstrated what the future could be. Like carrying around a personal assistant in your eyes, the glasses could quickly answer questions about the world around you, take photos, send messages or offer directions and useful information as you navigate a city – and all much faster than if you reached into your pocket for a smartphone. However, Google’s smart glasses weren’t successful in creating a new technological revolution at the time.

Rather than giving rise to a population of smart glass wearers, not everyone was ready for them, while others branded it as an invasion of privacy. The fall of Google Glass was far from the fall of smart glasses, though, and today many companies have designed their own. Google Glass may have arrived before its time, but it taught today’s technological pioneers what was possible. The latest smart glasses have been tailored to specialised purposes, making them far more desirable to certain industries.