TO DISCOVER NEW PLACES,

SOMETIMES WE NEED TO LEAVE

THE MAP BEHIND.

GLAS S
MI LE STO N E S

2012
I/O JUMPING OUT OF A BLIMP

BLOCKS FROM I/O

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

DVF RUNWAY SHOW AT

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK

2013

2014
TITANIUM COLLECTION AND DVF FRAMES LAUNCHED

OVER 150,000 #IFIHADGLASS SUBMISSIONS

GLASS

GLASS AT WORK

TEARDOWN

PARTNERS ANNOUNCED

SF + NYC GLASS FOUNDRY LAUNCHES

GIVING THROUGH
GLASS ANNOUNCED

GLASS XE EDITION LAUNCHES IN THE UK

4

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

TELL US A STORY ABOUT

the live demo on stage later that week.

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

The day of the event came and we rehearsed one last time. At
first everything was going well, but about halfway into the demo
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

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

We used to spray paint our prototypes

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

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

together pieces of other systems.

J O E H EB EN ST R EIT
HAYES RA FFLE

When I first joined Google, Id heard about the communal

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

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

talked about the hardware, Isabelle presented the design, and

weird ones like the conference bikes. One day during my

then it was time for the demo.

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

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
well and lasted a long time, but when

around campus and back (maybe around 10 minutes).

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

prototype. At the end we were rewarded with a standing ovation
and my heart started beating again.

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

M AX BRAUN

it the next day that I realised Id actually stolen Sergeys

personal bike and taken it out for a joyride.

people had battery problems, theyd

And thats the story of how I stole my billionaire bosss

email me with messages like my dogs

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

dead or my dogs misbehaving. After

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

a while I started receiving Gmail ads for

pet cemeteries and behavior training
for dogs.
STE PHE N L AU

GREG PRI EST-DORMAN

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

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

order to catch morning in the eastern United States. But

GLASS MEMORY?

our team is based in California so that meant we went

I will never forget when we went to
New York Fashion Week. I walked into

The first time we traveled outside of

Diane von Furstenbergs showroom

Google[x] with a large quantity of Glass

and realized her entire collection perfectly

was for the Glass Foundry events in

matched our Glass colors and Diane

San Francisco and New York. We were

saying I want all the models to wear it.

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.

pretty exceptional ;) The people who needed to push the

website live stayed late; and their work ended once the
announcement was made.

I took a photo of photographer

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

followers. I went home around 4pm and tried to go to

ASTRO T ELLER

great mood (and perhaps a bit hyper from the caffeine

and energy drinks). I had all of our social media posts
The weekend before I/O 2013 we were overrun with Explorer
requests to pick up their preordered Glass during I/O so
we went out and tried to find a space close enough to the
Moscone Center. We ended up renting the presidential suite
in the Intercontinental Hotel and changed it into a Glass
Basecamp. Over 72h we met more than 500 now Explorers,
who were not only able to get set up on Glass but enjoy the
gorgeous view of San Francisco from the 32nd floor.

T IM OTHY J ORDA N

in the office late at night or on the weekends, but 3am is

sleep, then came back around 2am. Everyone was in a

to nondescript freight.

with us on the plane with an airtight

work a lot of hours and its not uncommon to see people

beginning of Glass replying directly to our fans and

ISA B EL L E O L S S O N

of plans from white glove courier service

Ultimately we decided upon carrying them

live at 3am PST. Now a lot of people on the Glass team

would be the launch of our Twitter handle and the

around with a hundred or so prototypes,

them. So, we thought through a number

YOUVE DONE WITH GLASS?

I knew my work would just be beginning, though: this

understandably nervous about walking

let alone flying across the country with

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

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!

What a lot of our Explorers didnt notice was that for

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

SARAH PRICE

up Glasssomehow we couldnt get the hotel ethernet

connection working in the room: As we found out 12h later,
the cable was cut during the last visit of President Obama

I used Captioning on Glass to converse

For me it was capturing my son saying

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

with an 86 year-old man who had been

Dadda for the first time, a moment

deaf since he was 3. Seeing the look on

I would have missed before Glass was

his face as he got it.

in my life.

THAD STARN E R

E D SAN DERS

L AS S E WAS S ER M A N

THESE PHOTOS WERE

A L L TA K E N
THROUGH GLASS.

10

11

YO UR
A DVE N T U RE
B E G IN S

Flying Over
J E N N IF E R WAN G

12

13

TA K E
TO THE AIR

Cruising Altitude
AUST I N BOLI VER

Balloon noollaB
DAVID G. BARN E S

14

15

#IFIHADGLASS I

Ive had soooo many adventures simply

WO U L D T R AV E L T H E

because of Glass and the community

BORDER OF THE USA,

sprung up around it!

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

of wonderful kindred souls that has

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge with

Explorers, traveling to Walt Disney

A N D AT T R A C T I O N ,

World for an Explorer meet up, helping

OUTLINING

fellow Explorers. I just returned from a

A M E R I C A S B E AU T Y
IN GLASS.

to organize I/O Extended in SF with

trip to New York City and an Explorer
meet up at Maker Faire.

KIMBERLY ANN GRAHAM

NICOLE SIMONS

16

17

INTO
THE WILD

Mountain Crust
AN DY N GUY E N

Swiss Summit
HYUNYOUNG SONG

Almost There
RAY YAN

18

19

20

Antelope Roam

Paradise Found

JAME S ZHAO

CHRISTIN A WRIGHT

21

New York

Picture Perfect Antarctica

J O HN F ITCH

22

23

GET
A C T IV E

Sunset Surf
CHRISTO PHE R L E N ART

24

25

26

Tidepool Timeout

Shadow Runner

HALEY TOELLE

RICHARD B O LT

27

#IFIHADGLASS

From running with the bulls on the

I WOULD TRAIN

streets of Pamplona to completing

FOR AND RUN

while an audience cheered me on live

T H E # D I VA H A L F -

my first marathon #throughglass

via Google+.

M A R AT H O N W I T H

These are all examples of my 30-day

THEM ON. THEN

milestones that I have been able to

BLOG, TWEET

share with the world.

AND MICROBLOG
ABOUT THEM!

NOBLE ACKERSON

HILARY TOPPER

28

29

Snow Days
JAK E STE IN E RM AN

Air Hockey
ANDY KROPA

Halfway There
NOBLE ACKERSON

30

31

DISCOVER
SOMEWHERE
NEW

Photo Finish
L EO P R IETO

Mediterranean Ride
E BB E STRATHAIRN , RICH DUF F , AL E X M AL K IN , M IL E S F UJ IK I

Trail Days
ANDREW HI NTZ

32

33

GAME ON

Rail Session
CL AY TO N RO UL HAC- CARR

Ftbol, Football or Soccer

SALI L PAN D I T

Switzerland
A LEX MALKIN

Bump Set Spike

AL AIN VONGSOUVANH

34

35

N E V E R E N O U GH
ANIMALS

Play Time
TE RE SA Z AZ E N SK I

36

37

Feeding Bambi
LISA WRAY

Winter Grazing
N O RTH WO O DS RAN CH

38

39

#IFIHADGLASS

#ifihadglass We could share sea

I M I G H T F I N A L LY

turtle releases in the Gulf and

BE ABLE TO

whole process!

answer questions live through the

C AT C H U P W I T H
MY KANGAROO-

HOUSTON ZOO

BORDER COLLIE
M I X O F A P U P P Y.

NANCY XIAO

40

41

Purr
A N D RE W F E N SKE

Thailand
JACO B CO O K

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

42

43

Hungry Giraffe
AN A ME D I N A

Water Break
S. M ICHAE L WIL L IAM S

Bananagrams Partner
H EY L AU R EN R AY

44

45

TI M E WIT H
TH E FA M

Exciting Day at The Aquarium

J R CURL E Y

46

47

INSTEAD OF ME

I freeze that fleeting, unfiltered,

READING BOOKS

magical moment where they

TO THE KIDS, I
WOULD RECORD
THEIR STORIES

are looking at me.

And that is irreplaceable as
a parent.

AND SHARE
THEM DURING

JOSH JETT

STORY TIMES
#IFIHADGLASS.
#NOMOREGREENEGGS&HAM

KATHARINE PENNELL

48

49

Dizzy Does It
AARON FUHRMA N

Front Seat Driver

JOSH JETT

50

51

E XP R E SS
YO U RSE L F

Magic Bubble Wand

SPE N CE R K L E Y

52

53

#IFIHADGLASS ID

The field of view is completely

H AV E N O E X C U S E S

different from what Im used to.

TO NOT COLLECT

Its a really wide-angle lens, and

thats not quite how I see the world.

THE PIECES OF THE

But it is expanding my horizon; its

WORLD AROUND ME

making me think differently about

T H AT I N S P I R E M Y
ART AND WORK

timing, framing and composition.

Its pushing me in new artistic
directions.

CAROLINE AMABA
YONI MAYERI

54

55

Arch Sketching
VIR G IN IA P O LT R A C K

New York
KO CI HE RN AN DE Z

Test Test
KRISS CREOL
56

57

H E LP I N G
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.

MA RI A PA RKE R
3 000 MI LES 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.

#IFIHADGLASS:

As a career firefighter, and a software

engineer, I would use it to make firefighters job safer and more effective.
Mission critical information could be
viewed quickly while never taking eyes
off of the incident.

M A R K M O R R IS
DA N C E G R OU P

PATRICK JA CKSON
FI R E FI GHT ER

Two weeks ago I became

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

AL E X B L ASZ CZ UK
E XP LOR E R
58

59

Lex Gillette is the Paralympic world

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

CL ASSRO O M CHAM PIO N S

LE X GI LLE TTE

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 N D R EW VA N D EN H EU VEL
T EA C H ER

We use elephants to monitor rhinos,

to provide a better vantage point.
Currently we are exploring how
Glass can help us keep track of
rhinos hands free. Usually we take
notes with pencil and paper and
then have to enter them on a computer. Glass cuts the work in half.

SABITA MA LLA
WOR LD WI LDLI F E FUN D

60

[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. HO M E RO RIVAS
S UR GEON

61

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

Share your favorite through Glass moment.

few to receive this book.

THANK YOU

#THROUGHGLASS

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