Google Glass Manufacturing Begins in California
The Google Glass wearable platform will enter into the production phase in the coming weeks.
Google Glass will begin producing the device in a partnership with Foxconn at factories in Santa Clara, Calif. The company will be sourcing most of its components from Asia, according to a source close to the project.
The California factory will produce around a "few thousand" Google Glass units "in the coming weeks." Google is choosing to manufacture the device stateside in order to have better control over the complex and small scale operation. Google also hopes to set a "high profile example" of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Google will allow its engineers to be closely involved with the production process and provide more opportunities for last-minute fixes and for personal customization.
Google's Sergey Brin took to the stage at TED 2013, an annual conference in California, to show off the company's Glass project last month.
Brin bragged about the high-tech eyewear shooting down the use of traditional handsets. He also boasted that Google Glass can solve many of the problems associated with smartphones, such as having to look down.
"The act of looking down at my phone is one of the reasons behind Glass," he said. "We questioned whether you should be walking around looking down. That was the vision behind Glass and that's why we created this form factor."
Brin also claims that Glass is a product that will make a person's relationship with technology that much more convenient.
"When we made this we thought, Can we make something that frees your hands and frees your eyes?" he asked. "That's why we put the display up high out of your line of sight so you can make eye contact with people. The sound conducts through the bones in your cranium to free up your ears. If you want to hear it better you cover up your ears, which is surprising."