Google Allows Glass Owners to 'Invite a Friend' Into the Glass Program
July 31, 2013 — -- Google has started a Google Glass clique of sorts. After inviting more than 6,000 people to buy and try the connected glasses in its Explorer program, the company is now allowing some of those people to invite their friends to buy the gadget.
Some Google Glass Explorers, who bought the glasses for $1,500, have received emails from Google allowing them to invite a friend to the program.
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"We are always experimenting with new ways to expand our Explorer program," Google said in a statement when asked about ABC News asked about its expansion of the Glass program. The company would not comment further on the number of users it would be adding.
Only U.S. residents who can pick up their Glass in San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles can be invited to join the program. Of course, they also have to be willing to shell out the $1,500 for the glasses, which place a small screen in front of the right eye. Using the glasses, users can take photos or record video using the camera, see notifications and do simple Google searches.
Find more information on how the glasses work here.
Google has been criticized for not seeding units to a wider socio-economic base. A blog called "White Men Wearing Google Glass" popped up in May, shortly after Glass units were given to the first explorers. However, over the past few weeks, Google has invited a group of professors and academics to join the program and has also partnered with film schools, including the California Institute of the Arts and the American Film Institute. Newt Gingrich and Bon Jovi have also recently been spotted wearing the glasses.
Google has said it is slowly testing the new technology, which has incited some privacy concerns, and plans to roll it out more broadly in 2014.
