Google Glass gets new lease of life – with hardware for businesses

Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) relaunched their augmented reality product Google Glass on Tuesday, with a new “Enterprise Edition” hardware designed for business use.

Many were beginning to wonder if Google would take their wearable glasses out of production, after a two-year hiatus between software updates led people to believe the device had flopped.

However, Google Glass project leader Jay Kothari announced in a blog post on Tuesday that the company had been trialling their Google Glass product with businesses, including GE Aviation and Volkswagen.

According to Kothari, the Google Glass Enterprise Edition glasses are lighter and more “comfortable for long term wear”, alongside a better battery life and support for those who need prescription glasses.

“GE was one of the first businesses to experience the benefits of Glass in the workplace. Now, there are more than 50 businesses, including AGCO, DHL, Dignity Health, NSF International, Sutter Health,The Boeing Company, and Volkswagen, who have been using Glass to complete their work faster and more easily than before”, Kothari said.

“Now the Glass product team is back at X, and we’ll be collaborating with the Google Cloud team and our partners to help customers across a variety of business sectors make the most of Glass”, he continued.

“Together, we’re looking forward to seeing more businesses give their workers a way to work faster and in a more focused way, hands-free.”

With augmented reality becoming an increasingly big business for those in the industry, Google have undoubtedly chosen the right time to reinvent their product and keep Glass at the forefront of the sector. Shares in Google parent company Alphabet are currently up 0.19 percent at 978.38 (1451GMT).