Back in October, Google announced that Meet video calling would be available on Glass Enterprise Edition 2. Following a closed beta that required sign-up, Meet on Glass is now available for any Google Workspace customer/account.
Meet on Glass allows video call participants to get a first-person point of view from the face-worn wearable, which outputs an up to 1080p at 30FPS stream. The 8-megapixel sensor has a 83 degree diagonal FOV with f/2.4 aperture and fixed focus (“best focus at 0.6m”). There are three near field beam-forming microphones, while Bluetooth 5.0 allows for wireless headphones. Wired pairs can also connect via the USB-C port, which changes the 800mAh battery.
The app/experience fully integrates with the Google Workspace suite. As such, “teams can now join Calendar events directly from Glass with just a few taps” on the side touchpad without having to sign-in or scan codes. Google talks up integration with other Meet hardware and peripherals, e.g. Chromebases and meeting kits.
Any Google Workspace customer around the world can now give their employees, suppliers, and partners greater sight with Glass—using the simple and intuitive Google Meet environment they’re already used to.
Announced in May of 2019 for $999, other Glass Enterprise Edition 2 specs include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 SoC with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There’s 802.11a/g/b/n/ac Wi-Fi, while the unit touts IP53 protection for water spray resistance. Android 8.1 allows for easy and familiar app development.
Google imagines Meet on Glass as letting service technicians, trainers, and other frontline workers stream to “virtual clients or teams.” This is useful for real-time troubleshooting and other collaboration.
Google today touted a first-of-its-kind partnership with NTT DOCOMO in Japan starting next month. The carrier “can provide Meet on Glass directly to its customers in Japan.” The Meet team is also working on making it easier for Workspace partners/resellers to offer Meet on Glass in North America, Europe, and Australia.
After extensive testing, NTT DOCOMO chose Google Meet on Glass as the preferred solution for their business customers who want frontline collaboration solutions for their enterprises.
It’s somewhat amusing to think of Glass finally gaining success as an extension of Google Meet. Glass is far from augmented reality in that it only offers a floating 640 x 360 display in the top-right corner of your vision. That said, it’s relative simplicity and familiar development environment might be more attractive to interested parties than Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 or Magic Leap.
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
