Google patents better aesthetic integration of Glass components

A new patent filed by the Mountain View giant shows a new design for Glass that allows most of the components to “hide” behind the frames. This enables a more discreet profile, potentially making the controversial technology less conspicuous and more adaptable to regular frames.

Google Glass has been in beta since 2013, and it became available to the general public earlier this year. Nevertheless, the budding technology has been met with much vocal criticism, resulting in users being banned from certain establishments and the term “glasshole” being coined to describe them. The trend worried Google enough to post a detailed manual on how to avoid the moniker.

Many of the gripes associated with Glass revolve around its disruption of social interactions. The technology enables users to surreptitiously record others, which many see as a complete erosion of privacy and social decorum. Similarly, it is not always clear if wearers are paying attention in social situations, or simply checking their email.

By redesigning the components to fit behind the frames as proposed in USPTO patent number D710,928 S, Google hopes to mitigate some of these concerns and entice people to buy it.. Eliminating the outsize presence of the technology will enable wearers to make style choices more in line with the regular public. , Given the great pace of innovation, it likely won’t be long before such technologies become virtually imperceptible to casual observers. This doesn’t make all the privacy issues go away, but it can make you look just as good as if Glass wasn’t there. Your attention remains optional.