While we all think of Google Glass as a sort of soggy firework that failed to go off, the tech giant’s recent announcement confirmed they haven’t given up on their AR smart glasses offering just yet…
According to an official blog post, the company has just released a beta version of Google Meet for Glass Enterprise Edition 2, a platform designed to help improve collaboration for essential onsite workers whose roles cannot be carried out remotely.
Much like Microsoft HoloLens is currently doing with its Dynamics 365 Remote Assist program, Meet for Glass allows supervisors to see through the eyes of frontline workers in real-time and use their expertise to guide them remotely via the Meet collaboration app.
Is AR Remote Assistance the Future of Enterprise?
To date, Meet for Glass has mainly been used in Google’s data centers to help technicians collaborate in real-time to diagnose issues, review equipment, train new employees, and work together hands-free to solve problems as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Yet, after years of trialing this platform internally, Google is now ready to give paying Google Workspace members the opportunity to try out Meet for Glass beta and start building remote assistance strategies of their own.
Dave Citron, Product Manager at Google Meet, explains: “Data centers are one of many examples in which remote assistance can help maintain operational efficiency and workers across industries are benefiting from heads-up and hands-free solutions”
“Manufacturers experiencing a surge in demand for essential products, such as personal protective equipment, medications, and cleaning supplies can have on-site employees monitor and maintain factory equipment with help from specialists worldwide”
“Similarly, field service technicians can connect with remote experts to quickly repair devices that provide quality care to patients. And real estate professionals can give a first-person virtual tour or perform remote inspections for prospective tenants and homebuyers.”
From Failure to Success
Since its release in 2014, the failure of Google Glass in the consumer space has been widely documented, with many blaming a lack of clear purpose as the fundamental reason for that failure.
The revolutionary product never took off because nobody knew what it was for and what real benefit it would bring into their lives. Fast forward just five years later, however, and people have suddenly become much more aware of what AR tech is and are ready to embrace it with open arms.
Experts have predicted the AR Glasses Market will reach 31.1 million units by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 104.6% over the next 7 years, thus proving this technology will play a much bigger role in our futures.
What’s most interesting about Google’s approach, however, is that, rather than continuing down the same path as before, they appear to have switched focus entirely towards the enterprise, presumably because that’s where they believe the true value of AR lies.
Either way, if nothing else, we can expect to see some interesting developments opening in the AR/VR/MR space over the next decade. Meet for Glass is just one example of how augmented glasses provide powerful solutions in the new world of work, and it’s going to be great fun seeing what else comes along further down the line.
