Google Glass details unveiled

Search engine giant Google released new details Wednesday about its highly-awaited Google Glass device, a smartphone-like product that is controlled by voice commands.

The company said it will hold a contest to offer people the chance to pay $1,500 (1,129 euros) for a pair of the new Internet-connected eyeglasses ahead of their mass market release.

Google will choose "bold, creative individuals" to receive the glasses based on a 50-word application submitted via Google+ or Twitter explaining what they would do with the Google Glass technology, plus five pictures and a 15-second video. The competition is only open to US residents aged 18 or over.

#video#Winners will receive the "Explorer" version of Google Glass, a prototype of the product which is expected to be released to the mass market next year.

Glasses of the future

Controlled by voice commands, the small set of eyeglasses project information unobtrusively to tiny display screen attached to a rim above the right eye. The glasses run on Google's Android operating system for mobile devices.

Google Inc. first sold the glasses to computer programmers at a company conference last June where Google co-founder Sergey Brin first demonstrated the device. The company first began developing the glasses in 2010 as part of a secretive company division now known as Google X.

As the device is hands-free, Google Glass is supposed to make it easier for people to take pictures or record video wherever they are. Wearers can also conduct online searches by telling Google Glass to look up a specific piece of information.

Google also posted a YouTube video Wednesday showing people wearing the glasses while skydiving, riding a rollercoaster, dancing, skiing and even swinging on a trapeze.

The mass-market version of Google Glass will cost less than $1,500, but more than a smartphone.

hc/ccp (AP, dpa)