Google invites pre-orderers to try out Project Glass in San Francisco and New York

Google is inviting developers who had pre-ordered the company's augmented reality project—Project Glass—for an event in San Francisco on January 28 and 29, and in New York on February 1 and 2, according to The Verge. Developers will get to play around with the Project Glass API, which the company has dubbed Mirror.

According to the invitation text, the first day will be an introduction to Glass and developers will have a device to use while on-site. After that, the company will let developers try out the Mirror API, which allows the exchange of data and interaction with the user over REST.

Developers will get to play with the Mirror API

Earlier this month, head of the Google Glass project Babak Parviz had shed some light on the AR device in an interview with IEEE Spectrum. While he did not mention any specific features, Parviz did reveal some of its basic capabilities— you can take pictures and share them. Parviz even added that the feature set of Google Glass had not yet been finalised and that "it is still in flux."

Parviz stated that with the Google Glass, the company was essentially looking at a device capable of doing two things that would be useful to a lot of people. The first would be to develop a device that would allow users to have 'pictoral communications', i.e. have users communicate with each other with images and video. "Right now, we don’t have any devices that are specifically engineered to connect to others using images or video. So we wanted to have a device that would see the world through your eyes and allow you to share that view with other people," he said.

Parviz stated that they are constantly trying out new ideas as to how users can use their platform. He also mentioned that they were working towards making the hardware and software more robust, so as to be able to ship it to developers early this year.

Google has been developing the augmented reality wraparound shades for a while now. The runway at Diane von Furstenberg’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection show at New York Fashion Week witnessed the surprise entrant—Google Glass. Models sashayed down the ramp in their best outfits donning the Glass at the event. Also seen at the event was Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

This electronic eyewear can snap photos, initiate video chats and display directions at the sound of a user's voice. Images depict that the bands on every headset were made to complement the shades of the outfit showcased by the models. Interestingly, reports also suggest that one model switched on the device's video-recording function and managed to capture her view of the runway.

Project Glass is an intriguing concept. Google’s fascinating advertorial video for the prototypes was released recently. The idea that we could have mobile technology combined with AR in a lightweight, wearable module piqued the world’s curiosity.