Google Offers More Control With Glass Development Kit

The Google Glass project is to give developers even more control and innovation in their next designs and features for Google Glass apps when it release the new Glass Development Kit (GDK).

A “sneak peek” of the new GDK was announced 19 November at a Google Hackathon for developers, according to a Google+ post by Timothy Jordan, a senior developer advocate at Google.  “Developers have started building great Glassware with the Mirror API and today will have even broader access to Glass with a Sneak Peek of the Glass Development Kit,” he wrote. Jordan’s post also includes a YouTube video of his presentation, which laid out many of the new capabilities that the GDK will offer to Glass developers.

Sneak Peek

The APIs for the upcoming new GDK aren’t yet finalised, according to Google, but developers can read about what’s coming in the pipeline at the Google Developers Website. The GDK is an add-on to the Android Software Developers Kit that lets developers build Glass apps, called Glassware, that run directly on Glass. Unlike the Mirror API, Glassware built with the GDK runs on Glass itself, allowing access to low-level hardware features, according to Google.

“The full GDK Developer Preview will be available in the coming weeks,” wrote Jordan. “We can’t wait to start working on this next chapter of Glass Development with you.”

New Apps

In a related Google+ post, Google revealed that five additional useful and innovative Glass apps are now available for use by Glass Explorer users. The new apps were built using the new GDK, according to Google.

“To give you a taste of what’s possible, we’re launching 5 new Glassware [apps] from Strava, Allthecooks Recipes, Word Lens, GLU and GolfSight,” the post reports. “These were all built on the new platform and have transformed some of our favorite activities in really exciting ways.”

The new Allthecooks app offers Glass users a unique way to cook by following recipes while wearing Glass. “No more flour and chopped garlic on your keyboard!” states the post. “View recipes and cooking directions hands-free. You can also record and post your own with Allthecooks for Glass.”

Athletic users of Glass will be interested in the new Strava app, which lets users record their rides and runs, track their progress and get segment notifications and performance results, all while hands-free on Glass.

Word game lovers using Glass will be intrigued by Spellista by GLU, which is described in the post as “a simple and fun word jumble game for Glass.” The game also lets users create their own levels via Glass and share the games to play with their friends.

The new Wordlens app allows users to “instantly translate printed words in front of you, just by looking at them with Glass,” which could be very useful for travelers.

Golf fans are also included in the latest round of Glass apps. GolfSight by SkyDroid “is the all-in-one Golf companion” that gives users the distances for their latest golf shots, abilities to keep score and information about the golf course as the players play, according to the post.

Glass Explorer users can download and install the new apps from the Glass Website.