The second generation of Google Glass may not have much glass at all.
After the Glass headset’s lukewarm reception, Google renamed their wearable augmented reality device Project Aura. Since September, the company has been hiring new employees for the project, which will be part of Google, not its own company under Alphabet.
Now, theinformation.com claims that there are three different versions of the Project aura device in development, one with a screen and two without.
The two without screens will instead use bone conduction, as the original Google Glass was intended to do. Like headphones, they’ll beam audio directly into the user’s face.
These two are consumer versions, one of which is said to be targeted to “sport” users, who could presumably use it for fitness tracking. The version with a screen is said to be targeted to enterprise users.
The project, which is still in early development, is under the command of Tony Fadell, an Apple veteran with experience in developing head-mounted devices. The Information said that they have heard his team also includes audio experts hired away from Amazon.com.
The new product is expected to be released sometime next year.
Google Glass has been put to use in some professional applications, such as surgery, but did not catch on with the general public, with whom it was generally regarded as either silly-looking or extraneous. Its ability to stream video, which would not be possible with the rumored screen-less Project Aura, could help people in workplaces which require hands-free information gathering, such as medical fields.
