At SXSW Interactive, currently taking place in Austin, Texas, Google has been demonstrating its Google Glass headset and showcasing apps developed for the headset from brands such as The New York Times and Evernote.
The company revealed that Glass-centric app versions of Gmail,
Evernote, Path and the New York Times have been created and gave some insight as to how these apps would work. Using the "timeline cards" interface and format familiar to anyone running the latest version of Android on their smartphone or tablet (currently 16.5% of all active Android devices worldwide), the apps will provide Glass wearers with short bursts of information or with simple functionality. In the case of the New York Times, this means quick bursts of photographs and headlines when a Glass wearer looks up or taps the side of their headset. A text-to-speech system can also read longer articles to the user.
The Evernote app will let users snap and share photos and videos through Skitch which can be annotated and filed at a later date.
Meanwhile, Google's own Gmail app alerts Glass users to important emails only. The subject line and an image of the sender will appear in the device's screen and, by using Google's voice recognition system, the user can dictate a response.
During the Project Glass Developer Panel at the Austin event, developer advocate Timothy Jordan explained that each app that makes it to Glass is governed by four principles: "design for glass. "Don't get in the way. Keep it timely, and "avoid the unexpected."