What Google Glass can do

Despite only being trialled by a limited number of users and not due for more general release until Christmas, Google Glass is already attracting its own universe of apps. Here are some examples:

Fidelity Market Monitor for Glass

This app offers a hands-free daily display of quotes from major US stock indexes after the market closes. The app is thought to be under further development and is soon expected to offer nonstop real-time stock updates for Google Glass wearers anxious to keep a constant eye on their stock portfolio.

CNN News Alerts

Google Glass offers huge potential for personalised news and entertainment. This app is an early example. Not just a general news feed but a highly personalised app, CNN News Alerts allows the Google Glass wearer to configure precisely those topics about which he or she wishes to receive news. Wearers can also set the times most convenient for them to receive alerts, which can be viewed in the form of video clips.

Kitchme for Glass

This enables Google Glass wearers to search for suitable recipes either for a specific dish or simply to make the best of whatever ingredients happen to be available in the kitchen at the time. Kitchme offers thousands of recipes that can be prepared in under 45 minutes. The recipe search operates by voice commands with an option to swipe to browse search results. Additional features, such as the ability to snap photos of cooked meals and share the pictures with friends, are already in development for the next version of KitchMe for Glass. Future development is also expected to include the ability to use voice recognition to fully navigate the app.

Glass to Facebook

The Facebook app allows Google Glass wearers to upload photographs from Google Glass directly to Facebook. After taking a photograph with Google Glass, the wearer taps the touchpad to select “share” before deciding how widely to share it. Users are also able to add photo descriptions simply by saying the information out loud.

Glass Hunt

The challenge Google Glass developers face is making games easy to play without the use of a keyboard or a handheld control. A variation on clay pigeon shooting, Glass Hunt appears to send veggie burgers hurtling through the sky. The Google Glass wearer can shoot them down with just a flick of the head.

Word Lens for Glass

This app makes science-fiction style simultaneous translation a reality. Once the app is installed, all the Google Glass wearer has to is say: “OK Glass. Translate this.” An instant translation of any text the wearer is looking at then appears on the Google Glass screen. This app is suited to travellers who need an instant translation of notices and road signs.

DriveSafe for Glass

If the driver is wearing Google Glass and has installed DriveSafe for Glass, the app will detect when he or she is beginning to fall asleep. Firstly a series of bleeps is sounded through the bone conduction speaker, which transmits vibrations directly to the ear, on Glass, followed by an audio warning: “Wake up! Perhaps you should find a rest area.” The wearer can then tap the Google Glass touch pad to bring up GPS navigational directions to the nearest rest area.

SpeedHud

Another app aimed at drivers, SpeedHud allows drivers the luxury of checking their speed without lowering the vision from the road to dashboard. All the driver has to do is speak the command: “OK Glass, show speed,” to see the speed displayed on the Google Glass screen.

Genie

As its name suggests, Genie is not one app but several. Currently under further development, Genie offers a shopping list, the ability to make quick notes, an interface for marking the wearer’s parking location, a daily log for calorie counting and the ability to add to a contacts list with audio commands.

GlassTesla

This app, aimed at drivers of the luxury electric car the Tesla S, is an early exampling of the type of Google Glass co-branding than can be expected of manufacturers of luxury goods. The app enables Tesla driers to monitor their vehicle’s electric charging status, providing the option to start or stop charging via Glass. It also enables Google Glass to locate a lost or stolen Tesla.