After private European showcase, Google takes Glass on public US tour
Google is taking its Glass networked eyewear on a US tour to showcase the technology to the public, with the first stop being a tech hub it's sponsoring in Durham, North Carolina.
Ahead of Google's planned full commercial launch for Glass in the US in the coming months, the company's Glass team will be showing off the headset to consumers in different cities across the US.
The first stop, scheduled for 5 October, will be the Bay 7, American Tobacco Campus where it will be giving individuals — likely to be developers — a "first hand (errr face)" experience of Glass, according to Google's invite to the showcase posted on Google+.
Google hasn't said where will be the next stop on its Glass tour, but the Durham site was announced this week as the latest addition to Google's Tech Hubs in North America network, a part of its Google for Entrepreneurs program. Under the scheme, Google partners with local tech hubs by underwriting some of their operational costs and providing mentorship, Google told Bloomberg yesterday.
In Durham, it's partnering with the tech hub American Underground, which provides leasable space at the former tobacco factory for startups and entrepreneurs, according to Durham's the Herald Sun.
Other Google-sponsored tech hubs are in Minneapolis, Chicago, Waterloo, Nashville, Durham, Denver and Detroit.
The Glass public tour in the US follows this month's private showing of the hardware to politicians and journalists at several locations in Europe, reportedly hosted by six members of Google's big ideas project Moonshot. Apparently Google doesn't plan to release Glass in Europe for a numbers of years yet, where some have expressed concern over its implications for privacy and safety in the region.