Google Glass is expected to be widely available in 2014, with an early version coming out next year to folks who pre-ordered. And although we’re sure you eagerly await their arrival, you’re likely wondering what it’s like wearing them.

Well, we have a review for you – and a peak into Google’s other upcoming invention: self-driving cars.

The Wall Street Journal’s Spencer E. Ante had a chance to test out Google Glass when he visited the company’s co-founder and head of “Google X” Sergey Brin at Google’s New York office.

Weighing a few ounces, with a tiny embedded camera, the glasses “deploy what’s known as a “heads-up display,” in which data are projected into the user’s field of vision on a small screen above the right eye.”

In all, the glasses are like a wearable smartphone, allowing the user to take pictures, send messages and perform other functions via voice-activated commands. For instance, say “OK, Glass” into one of the glasses’ two microphones and a menu pops off to the side of your vision showing icons that will let you take a picture, record a video, use Google Maps or make a phone call.

. . . The device fit well. It was easy to snap a picture or video without taking my smartphone out of my pocket. It was cool to see the information there in front of my right eye, though a little disorienting. I kept closing my left eye, which was uncomfortable.

The point of the glass, according to Brin, is to have seamless technology. At TechCrunch Disrupt this week, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey encouraged developers to focus on seamless technology as well. So it looks like this is the newest challenge for developers – and Google appears to have a head start, as one would expect:

“I have always disliked the feeling that with technology I am spending a lot of my time and attention managing it,” added Mr. Brin, dressed casually in a white T-shirt and jeans. “The notion of seamlessly having access to your digital world without disrupting the real world is very important.”

And what about the self-driving cars? In this video, Brin speaks to both projects:

Google Glass is expected to offer navigation and phone capabilities as well, but those options aren’t ready yet.

 

Are you looking forward to sporting your own pair of Google Glass? The folks that preordered dropped a cool $1,500 to be one of the first to get them, but we’re guessing (if Google Glass hopes to become mainstream) that the price will drop significantly – and quickly – once the public gets a taste . . . and assuming they live up to the hype.

 

(High tech visualization image from Shutterstock)