With Google’s Project Glass still very much in its awkward developmental stages, the best method of controlling it remains up for debate. This patent, though, suggests that a laser-projected control pad might be in the running.
https://gizmodo.com/wsjs-exclusive-project-glass-trial-promising-but-diso-5942508
Currently, Project Glass uses a touch pad that runs down the side of one of its arms. Trouble is, that means reaching up every time you need to adjust a setting. This idea, though, would use a laser projector to throw a control pad onto any surface that you’re looking at: wall, desk, arm, whatever. Then, a small camera would interpret finger movements in the region of those buttons and turn them into commands. Simple.
https://gizmodo.com/sergey-brin-finally-lets-someone-else-wear-google-glass-5914111
This is well-trodden ground, of course: there have been oh-so-many laser projectors designed to throw a keyboard onto a desk in front of you. But they were static; Google’s offering would be much trickier to pull off and use. Of course, the patent might never make it into the field—but if it does, it could make the glasses more usable than we expected. [USPTO via Engadget]
https://gizmodo.com/pico-projector-from-light-blue-optics-throws-up-a-10-in-5440651
