By now you’ve seen the futuristic Google Glass Project – a venture into wearable augmented-reality devices. Google Glass, which is expected to be available to the public by the end of the year, is a device that is worn on a person’s face that allows them to view and interact with a computer screen and the web. Google Glass is more than just a transformative technology though, it’s a window into the world’s information, as well as a new way to share experience with the ones you care about most.
So today, Google Ventures, the company’s venture-capital division which primarily invests in early startups, is forming the Google Glass Collective – an investment syndicate between Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures that will provide seed funding to entrepreneurs in the Glass ecosystem. Google is looking to help jumpstart new app development on their coming augmented-reality platform, encouraging entrepreneurs to start developing amazing experiences through Glass!
How do you submit an idea to the Glass Collective?
If you have a brilliant new idea for a Google Glass project, let Google know here.
What kind of startups and ideas does the Glass Collective want to see?
Glass Collective representatives said they hope to encourage the development of a rich “app ecosystem” that exists today in similar app stores for smartphones and tablets, including those powered by Google’s own Android mobile-operating system.
According to Google:
We’re eager to see both services and hardware for Glass that define new paradigms for how technology fits into people’s lives. In particular, we’re excited about consumer and enterprise innovations that impact areas that millions of people rely upon everyday — like messaging, sharing, search, and navigation.
Marc Andreessen, a founder of Andreessen Horowitz who sits on the board of Facebook, eBay and Hewlett Packard, said “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. Glass brings developers a new springboard for creativity and an amazing new platform to build the defining applications of the future.”
“This is a real platform” for developers to create thousands of apps, he said, citing the potential of apps for health professionals or “first-responders” that could view a medical guide or other life-saving material while they treated people.
Bill Maris, managing director of Google Ventures, also said the device would be able to help thousands of people with disabilities, including those tragically paralyzed from the neck down. “We could be sitting on the edge of a paradigm shift” in computing, he said.
What type of investments does the Glass Collective make?
Google is currently looking to start providing seed investments in the Unites States.
What do you think about the Google Glass project? Got any great ideas for a potential Glass app?
