Investors seek 'killer apps' for Google Glass

Sure you can do a lot with Google Glass, the new augmented reality product that puts a computer on your head and a tiny screen in your line of sight. But much of what you can do with Glass can be done with a smartphone, albeit in a less stylish way. There are some things, like seeing directions in the corner of your eye and, of course, it's hands-free. But is that really enough to convince non tech geeks to shell out $1,500 for the product? Probably not.

So Google is looking for game-changing innovation that will make Glass a must-have product. Google announced that major Silicon Valley venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have partnered with Google Ventures to create Glass Collective to provide seed funding for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for the Glass platform.

“The thesis of Glass is profoundly transformational. And as with the Internet and smartphones, a huge amount of work will be done by third-party developers to fully realize the Glass vision," said Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz. "Glass brings developers a new springboard for creativity and an amazing new platform to build the defining applications of the future.”

Google recently gave the product to 8,000 "winners" of a contest to test out Glass for Google and pay $1,500 to be one of the first people to get the product. Hopefully, a few smart developers are in that group.

“This is a platform so new, so unlike anything before, that we can’t guess what the killer apps will be," said John Doerr of KPCB. "But, believe me, they’re coming."

For now though we'll have to wait and see if that vision really plays out.

Developers with a good idea for Glass can go here.

Image: Google

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com