<p>Back in 2012, Google Glass had its cool side. A select bunch of people had them to begin with, and when they became a little more available, few people could afford them. In India, it was a rare sight to see someone walking around loose wearing Google Glass.<br><br>But this hi-tech and innovative wearable had its creepy side too. It was distracting, both for the wearer, who always seemed to be elsewhere, and for anyone interacting with the wearer because you never knew what was going on behind that frame and whether you were being photographed, video’d and uploaded online. Regulatory issues came up in droves. Google Glass however was an experimental project of Google X, where interesting things like self-driving cars were tested in different situations. With Google Glass, there were dozens of learnings about the unusual hardware of the product, the usage in the real world, the reactions and problems experienced, etc. But like all experiments, there’s a time to end, and that’s what happened to Google Glass when Google announced it was finished with the current version of the wearable.<br> </p><table style="width: 200px;" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" align="right"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/mala-bhargava-mdm.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; margin: 1px; float: right;"></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Mala Bhargava</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now though, Google Glass is coming back. For those who wondered what good the whole thing was, will be interested to know that this time around, Glass isn’t just going to be let loose on the streets with no purpose but is going to be put to use in the enterprise, for healthcare, and for other specific uses. And apps needed to make that happen are in development.<br><br>For example, several apps have been developed in the US to help patients of Parkinsonism and other movement disorders by using augmented reality to initiate and guide movement, exercises and dance. 9to5 Google thinks it’s the enterprise where Google Glass part 2, actually codenamed GG1, will find its home next. Just as there are apps being developed for smartwatches, there is a strong case for uses that use Glass, removing the need to look down at your hand. For instance, an overlay with customer information could help airline and hotel staff to assist people quicker and deliver services in a more customised manner. This has already been tried with the earlier Glass and other hi tech eyewear. Glass can also be used to overlay contextual information when the situation calls for it, such as for training on something complex. It could be used to navigate a task just as it could to use a map to a location.<br><br>Even though specific usage in industry is the way to go for GG1, as it is for many other wearables, no one expects it to be an easy fit. How, for example, will security and integration with enterprise backend be handled? How will eye strain, despite a new design that tries to address this, through the day every day be dealt with? New problems are bound to come up as the device begins to be tested in the enterprise. While GG1 is bound to be useful, this time round Robert Scobble, who took his Google Glass in for a bath and posted pictures, is less likely to repeat the performance.</p>
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