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by blhack 4858 days ago
No, it isn't, it's just the first time that you're hearing about it because it's the first time that the tech has been pointed at your particular subset of consumer.
1 comments

Alright, what other consumer products like Google Glass have been released?
This is very much specialised stuff however - would you ever see your average consumer walk around in public with it? No - because these are ski goggles not normal glasses.
I think blhack is playing semantics with 'consumer'. They are skiwear consumers that bought them. I think it was pretty clear that you meant something like widespread public use.
I'm not sure whether it's similar enough, but the "Private Eye", a wearable, monocular heads-up display, had a bit of niche success when it was introduced in 1989. Here's a contemporary blurb from Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/archive-viewer?id=dwEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=...
Interesting, but fundamentally different.

Google Glass = head-mounted display + camera + access to the cloud

The Private Eye was just the first. It's like comparing an exercise bike to an actual ride-around-outdoors bicycle.

Plenty of products exist. Google Glass is just a very very good iteration of existing tech.

(http://www.diginfo.tv/)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0hF0cbw8E&feature=youtu...)

I'm reaching here, but: Nintendo's Virtual Boy.