Google Invests In New Glasses

As we all know, Google has been busy at work trying to perfect Google Glass but the internet super-giant is now turning its attention to other types of glasses.

Google has recently awarded a group of UK-based technology projects with large sums of money to help them develop their projects in order to change the world. In fact, there were ten groups in total, four of them were awarded £500,000 and the runners-up were awarded £200,000 each to help them progress.

There were a lot of interesting ideas among the groups and one of those top earners was the RNIB smart glasses. These glasses also bagged the People’s Choice award too, which was not an accolade that was given to them by the judges’.

The RNIB smart glasses are a wearable device that will allow people with sight loss the ability to “see” their surroundings. So, although Google Glass is going to be a helpful tool for a number of people, these smart glasses will offer so much more value to the world.

According to the MD of RNIB Solutions, Neil Heslop, 90% of those people who are registered as blind still have some degree of vision. He said, “The glasses work in a way that means the depth of the camera assesses shape, size and the positioning of those objects nearby enhancing them to make them appear brighter.”

This wasn’t the only project that appealed to Google though. Another intriguing idea was a wearable device that belonged to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and is intelligent enough to hear mosquitoes. With the aim of attaching to a wristband, this device aims to detect a number of different types of mosquitoes and will hope to prevent certain diseases.

There was another wearable that came close and that idea was formed from Android game technology and wearables. The idea is to improve the mental health of young people, which is something that often gets overlooked. This project was created by We Are What We Do and is in fact a game that helps to strengthen the emotional resilience of younger people as well as manage their stress levels.

So, although many of us just know about Google’s aim to bring us Google Glass, they are actually investing time and money in a number of more important, world-changing ideas to help society too.
Good ol’ Google!