Google Glass, the iconic heads-up display (HUD) introduced back in 2012—known for spawning the portmanteau “glasshole”—is finally back, this time albeit it as a special business model dubbed Glass Enterprise Edition.

Before today, fans of the original ‘Explorer Edition’ could only hope that after the Project Glass had “Graduated” from within Alphabet’s “moonshot factory” [X] in 2015 (also the origin of Tango, Google Watch, and more), that the Glass team would be moving ahead with development of new and improved versions of the device.

Now brought back to life by X (previously Google[x]), Glass Enterprise Edition is being re-positioned to cater to individual companies with specific needs. Billing it as a “hands-free device, for hands-on workers,” the company is aiming to change the old image of Glass as a failed fashion tech accessory with its custom end-to-end support for businesses called the Glass Partner program.

image courtesy Alphabet

The program currently has a roster of over 50 businesses including AGCO, DHL, Dignity Health, NSF International, Sutter Health, The Boeing Company, and Volkswagen; and becoming a partner gives you access to Glass devices, specialized software solutions and ongoing support for an undisclosed and admittedly variable price.

Glass Project Lead Jay Kothari calls the Enterprise Edition a “new chapter for Glass,” in a blogpost today. Demonstrating the utility to prospective Glass Partners with a single image, Kothari points to a massive assembly manual GE’s mechanics consulted before getting Glass.

image courtesy Alphabet

“When we originally built Glass, the work we did on the technology front was very strong, and starting the Explorer program was the right thing to do to learn about how people used the product,” head of X, Astro Teller tells Wired. “Where we got a little off track was trying to jump all the way to the consumer applications. We got more than a little off track.”

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The company hasn’t published any specs around Glass 2.0, saying only that when comparing to the older Explorer Edition, the new Enterprise Edition device has been “specially designed for enterprise and is supported through our network of Glass Partners.”

When asked back in May whether the Glass team was working with Google’s AR/VR team, department lead Clay Bavor made it certain he didn’t know exactly what was being developed at the secretive lab.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Sam Illingworth

    Not really true to suggest they had to use that massive old binder before is it? They could have that info on a laptop, iPad or iPhone (and have it stored for offline use too).

    • OhYeah!

      You must be fun at parties…

      • Sam Illingworth

        You’d think wouldn’t you, but actually I’m not at all.

  • That explains why some times ago they pushed a firmware update for the Glass.

    Companies like Vuzix already do good contextual reality glasses for workers, so I think that this new glass can be useful in some niches

  • Joe Black

    Well it’s starting to look a bit nicer.

  • Da Mo (JFlash)

    The original released at $1600, possibly why it failed.

    • OhYeah!

      Nope, not why at all. That was a beta product with a beta price. Of course their limited run dev devices would be that expensive, they weren’t being mass produced yet. It never failed because this is the first release of a ready, finished product.

  • guest

    I guess if you have to ask how much you cannot afford it???