Google may have finally found the real mission for Google Glass.
The tech giant's somewhat controversial smart eyewear has been finding its way into the workplace. On Tuesday, Google announced a new program called Glass at Work intended to work with businesses that use the device, The New York Times reported.
While Google plans to roll out its Glass device for mass production sometime this year, so far the gadget has only been available to select developers. Businesses can contact the Glass at Work program to team up with Google. Users have to be invited to try Glass, and the device currently has a $1,500 price tag.
The new program seeks to give tech support to Glass business users and see how companies are using Glass in the workplace. One example of a company putting Glass to good use is Sullivan Solar Power of Southern California, which installs solar panels.
"Our construction guys and field techs, they're going up and down ladders, up on rooftops, around potentially dangerous equipment," Michael Chagala, Sullivan's director of information technology, told the NY Times. "To be able to have their hands free is obviously critical, and they can't bring a laptop up a ladder or see one in the sun."
A huge issue with Glass has been privacy, something that has reportedly led to public altercations. Depending on the work setting, Glass could be a privacy concern for sensitive information; however, the eyewear device should generally be less of a concern for work compared with private life.
But using Glass effectively seems to be contingent on whether or not the job involves a lot of one on one with other people.
"I can think of a whole bunch of professions where Google Glass makes a lot of sense and poses almost no privacy risk at all and could be really valuable--everything from engineering to car repair to architecture to lumberjacking," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the NY Times.
"But what's interesting about all of those professions is that you're not actually interacting with a customer."
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