TO DISCOVER NEW PLACES,

SOMETIMES WE NEED TO LEAVE

THE MAP BEHIND.

GLASS
MILESTONES

CODE NAME:
WINGMAN
E A R LY P R O T O T Y P E I T E R AT I O N S

2012

I /O J U M PI N G O U T O F A BL I MP

B LO C KS F R O M I /O

D V F R U N WAY SH OW AT

N E W YO R K FA SH IO N W E E K

2013

G L A S S AT WOR K

2014

PARTN E RS AN N OU N CED

OVER 150,000 # IFIHADGLA SS SUBMISS I ON S

GL A SS

S F + N Y C G L AS S FO U N D RY LAU N CH ES

TEA RD OW N

G IVING THRO UG H
G L AS S A NNO U NC ED

G L A S S X E ED I TI ON L AU N CH ES I N T H E U K

T I TA N I U M COL L E C T I ON A N D D V F F R A M E S L AU N C H E D

TELL US A STORY ABOUT

T H E E A R LY D A Y S O F G L A S S

When I joined, the Glass team was pretty

smallmaybe 30 peopleand everything
was new. We did not have hardware
yet, so wed build our own by cobbling
together pieces of other systems.

HAY ES RAFFL E

In the early days of Glass, we built and

shipped a new version of the device
every 46 weeks. We named them
alphabetically, so the fourth version was
called Dog. It was a popular device; it ran

We used to spray paint our prototypes

in the parking lot using hardware store
rattle-cans. Gotta start somewhere

One sunny day in April we were about to show Glass to the

rest of the company for the first time. Hundreds were going to

be gathered in the largest venue at Googles headquarters in

Mountain View. Many more would be watching remotely from

offices around the world. And I found out I was going to give

the live demo on stage later that week.

The day of the event came and we rehearsed one last time. At

first everything was going well, but about halfway into the demo

the first prototype just shut down. I quickly switched to the

second one, but to my horror the display stayed black. I realized

that the big screen behind me was still showing what I should

have been seeing, so I just kept going, glancing up once in a

When I first joined Google, Id heard about the communal

then it was time for the demo.

talked about the hardware, Isabelle presented the design, and

Later that day the room filled up, Sergey gave the intro, Jean

while. Nobody noticed. Or they didnt want to tell me.

Gbikes that Googlers could ride. I even saw some of the

M AX BR AUN

and my heart started beating again.

prototype. At the end we were rewarded with a standing ovation

Everything just worked. I didnt even have to touch the second

weird ones like the conference bikes. One day during my

And thats the story of how I stole my billionaire bosss

JOE H EBENSTREIT

first week, I went downstairs and saw this weird Elliptigo

bike in the lobby. I thought it was one of the communal
Gbikes, so I grabbed it, and took it out for a quick jaunt
around campus and back (maybe around 10 minutes).
When I brought it back, the receptionist (who wasnt there
when I first took it out), gave me a strange look and I
couldnt figure out why. It wasnt until I saw Sergey riding
it the next day that I realised Id actually stolen Sergeys

bike and didnt get caught/fired. (Ive never told him this

personal bike and taken it out for a joyride.

people had battery problems, theyd

story though, so its probably not too late to fire me).

well and lasted a long time, but when

email me with messages like my dogs

ST E PHE N L AU

dead or my dogs misbehaving. After

a while I started receiving Gmail ads for
pet cemeteries and behavior training
for dogs.

GREG PRI EST- D OR M AN

W H AT S Y O U R F A V O R I T E

The first time we traveled outside of

and realized her entire collection perfectly

Diane von Furstenbergs showroom

GLASS MEMORY?
I will never forget when we went to

Google[x] with a large quantity of Glass

matched our Glass colors and Diane

New York Fashion Week. I walked into

was for the Glass Foundry events in

saying I want all the models to wear it.

a long time we only had 3G tethering available to set

What a lot of our Explorers didnt notice was that for

gorgeous view of San Francisco from the 32nd floor.

who were not only able to get set up on Glass but enjoy the

Basecamp. Over 72h we met more than 500 now Explorers,

in the Intercontinental Hotel and changed it into a Glass

Moscone Center. We ended up renting the presidential suite

we went out and tried to find a space close enough to the

requests to pick up their preordered Glass during I/O so

The weekend before I/O 2013 we were overrun with Explorer

ISAB EL LE O LSSON

San Francisco and New York. We were

understandably nervous about walking
around with a hundred or so prototypes,
let alone flying across the country with
them. So, we thought through a number
of plans from white glove courier service
to nondescript freight.
Ultimately we decided upon carrying them
with us on the plane with an airtight
cover story. That is, we divided them up
into five hard cases laden with stickers of
our favorite musicians and radio stations.
If anyone asked us, we were in a band
called The Moldavites. no one asked.

T I M OTH Y J ORDAN

up Glasssomehow we couldnt get the hotel ethernet

We decided to announce #ifihadglass at 6am EST, in

order to catch morning in the eastern United States. But
our team is based in California so that meant we went
live at 3am PST. Now a lot of people on the Glass team
work a lot of hours and its not uncommon to see people
in the office late at night or on the weekends, but 3am is
pretty exceptional ;) The people who needed to push the
website live stayed late; and their work ended once the
announcement was made.
I knew my work would just be beginning, though: this
would be the launch of our Twitter handle and the
beginning of Glass replying directly to our fans and
followers. I went home around 4pm and tried to go to
sleep, then came back around 2am. Everyone was in a
great mood (and perhaps a bit hyper from the caffeine
and energy drinks). I had all of our social media posts
queued up in tabs in Chrome. When the time came, it
was so unnerving to push that button, but I did, right on
the hour.
Then I waited for the responses. A few appeared almost
immediately. I started replying as Glass, but soon
there was a backlog of a dozen posts. Then two dozen.
Then fifty, then a hundred. Wow!

W H AT S T H E C O O L E S T T H I N G

YOUVE DONE WITH GLASS?

I took a photo of photographer

Annie Leibovitz using Glass while
she was taking a photo of me.

I used Captioning on Glass to converse

I would have missed before Glass was

Dadda for the first time, a moment

For me it was capturing my son saying

ASTRO TELLER

with an 86 year-old man who had been

in my life.

SARAH PRICE

the cable was cut during the last visit of President Obama

deaf since he was 3. Seeing the look on

connection working in the room: As we found out 12h later,

in the city, when he was staying in the same room.

his face as he got it.

ED SANDERS

LASSE WASSERMA N

THAD STARN E R

10

THESE PHOTOS WERE

A L L TA K E N

THROUGH GLASS.

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YOUR
ADVEN TURE
BE GINS

Flying Over
JE NNI FER WANG

13

14

TA K E
TO THE AIR

Cruising Altitude
AU ST IN BOLI VE R

Balloon noollaB
DAVID G. BAR NES

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#IFIHADGLASS I
WO U L D T R AV E L T H E
BORDER OF THE USA,
S T O P P I N G AT E V E R Y
F A S C I N AT I N G C I T Y
A N D AT T R A C T I O N ,
OUTLINING
A M E R I C A S B E AU T Y
IN GLASS.

NI CO L E SI M O NS

Ive had soooo many adventures simply

because of Glass and the community

of wonderful kindred souls that has

sprung up around it!

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge with

Explorers, traveling to Walt Disney

World for an Explorer meet up, helping

to organize I/O Extended in SF with

fellow Explorers. I just returned from a

trip to New York City and an Explorer

meet up at Maker Faire.

K IMB E R LY A N N G R A H A M

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INTO
THE WILD

Swiss Summit
HY UN YOUNG S ONG

Mountain Crust
AN DY N GUY E N

Almost There
RAY YAN

19

20

JA M E S Z H AO

Antelope Roam

CHRI STINA WRIGHT

Paradise Found

21

22

New York

Picture Perfect Antarctica

J OHN F ITCH

23

24

GE T
ACTIVE

Sunset Surf

CHRISTOPHER LEN ART

25

26

HA L EY TOELLE

Tidepool Timeout

RICHARD BOLT

Shadow Runner

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#IFIHADGLASS
I WOULD TRAIN
FOR AND RUN
T H E # D I VA H A L F M A R AT H O N W I T H
THEM ON. THEN
BLOG, TWEET
AND MICROBLOG
ABOUT THEM!

H I L ARY TOP P ER

From running with the bulls on the

streets of Pamplona to completing

my first marathon #throughglass

while an audience cheered me on live

via Google+.

These are all examples of my 30-day

milestones that I have been able to

share with the world.

NO BLE A C K E R S ON

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Air Hockey
ANDY KROPA

Snow Days
JAKE STEI NE RM AN

Halfway There

NOBLE ACKER SON

31

32

Trail Days
ANDREW H I NTZ

Photo Finish
LEO PRIETO

Mediterranean Ride

DISCOVER

SOMEWHERE
NEW

E BBE STRATHAIRN , RICH DU FF , ALE X MALKIN , MILE S FUJIKI

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34

GAME ON

Ftbol, Football or Soccer

SA LI L PAND IT

Rail Session
CL AY TON RO UL HAC- CARR

Switzerland

ALEX M ALKIN

Bump Set Spike

ALAIN VONGSOUVANH

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36

N EV ER ENOU GH
ANIM ALS

Play Time
TE RE SA ZAZ ENSKI

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38

Feeding Bambi
LISA WRAY

Winter Grazing
N ORTH WOO DS RAN CH

39

40

#IFIHADGLASS
I M I G H T F I N A L LY
BE ABLE TO
C AT C H U P W I T H
MY KANGAROOBORDER COLLIE
M I X O F A P U P P Y.

NA NCY XI AO

#ifihadglass We could share sea

turtle releases in the Gulf and

answer questions live through the

whole process!

H OUSTO N ZO O

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Purr
AN D RE W FE N S KE

WE ALL
H AV E O U R
FAVO R I T E S

Thailand
JACOB COO K

43

44

Hungry Giraffe
AN A M E D I NA

Bananagrams Partner
H EY L AURENRAY

Water Break
S. MICHAE L WI LLIAM S

45

46

T IME W IT H
THE FAM

Exciting Day at The Aquarium

JR CUR LEY

47

48

INSTEAD OF ME
READING BOOKS
TO THE KIDS, I
WOULD RECORD
THEIR STORIES
AND SHARE
THEM DURING
STORY TIMES
#IFIHADGLASS.
#NOMOREGREENEGGS&HAM

K ATH AR I N E P EN NELL

I freeze that fleeting, unfiltered,

magical moment where they

are looking at me.

And that is irreplaceable as

a parent.

JOS H J E T T

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50

Dizzy Does It
AA RON FUH RM AN

Front Seat Driver

JOSH JETT

51

52

EXP RE SS
YOURSELF

Magic Bubble Wand

SPE NCER KLEY

53

54

#IFIHADGLASS ID
H AV E N O E X C U S E S
TO NOT COLLECT
THE PIECES OF THE
WORLD AROUND ME
T H AT I N S P I R E M Y
ART AND WORK

CA RO L I N E A MA BA

The field of view is completely

different from what Im used to.

Its a really wide-angle lens, and

thats not quite how I see the world.

But it is expanding my horizon; its

making me think differently about

timing, framing and composition.

Its pushing me in new artistic

directions.

YONI MAY E RI

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56

Arch Sketching
VI RG INI A PO LTRACK

Test Test
KRISS CREOL

New York
KOC I HE RNAN D E Z

57

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H ELPING
H ANDS

Our ultra marathon fundraising

application for Glass will facilitate
geo-fenced message delivery to a
racer en route, including messages
of encouragement and donations.
Stakeholders in our cause will be
able to see photos and videos
shared by the racer from the racers
point of view and will be able to
track his or her progress from a
responsively-designed website.

M ARI A PA RK E R
3 000 MI L ES TO A CURE

The Moving through Glass app will

include dance-based exercises that
provide visual and musical examples
of a march, waltz and tango to help
people with Parkinsons disease initiate a first step and keep a steady,
rhythmic walking cadence.

M ARK MORRIS
D ANC E GROU P

Two weeks ago I became

a Glass Explorer. It meant
I could do things I thought
I wouldnt be able to do
anymore.

ALE X BL AS ZCZ UK
E XP LORE R

# IF I H AD G L A S S :

As a career firefighter, and a software

engineer, I would use it to make fire-

fighters job safer and more effective.

Mission critical information could be
viewed quickly while never taking eyes
off of the incident.

PATR ICK JACKSON

FIRE FIG HTER

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WORL D WIL DLI F E F U ND

SABITA MALLA

then have to enter them on a computer. Glass cuts the work in half.

Currently we are exploring how

Glass can help us keep track of
rhinos hands free. Usually we take
notes with pencil and paper and

We use elephants to monitor rhinos,

to provide a better vantage point.

60

To be a Glass Explorer means I get to tie together all the

things that are most engaging about learning. You know,
making every moment a teachable moment.

A NDRE W VAN DE N HE UV E L
TEACHER

Lex Gillette is the Paralympic world

recordholder in the long jump. He uses
Glass as a motivational speaker to
inspire children.

CL ASS ROOM CHAMPION S

LE X GI LLE TTE

[Glass] represents a truly revolutionizing and

disruptive device for healthcare providers to use.
From doing simple things such as documentation,
sharing of images, videos, experiences, opinions,
etc., to potentially more sophisticated use of
applications like augmented reality, artificial
intelligence engines, etc.

DR. HOMERO R IVAS

S UR GEON

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THE JOURNEY DOESNT END HERE

You have been the first to make, to tinker, to create, and to shape
through Glass. Thank you for helping to make Glass even
better. In honor of your early support, you are one of the very
few to receive this book.

THANK YOU

Share your favorite through Glass moment.

#THROUGHGLASS

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