Google seeking ‘explorers’ to buy and try $1,500 smart glasses

Google is ready to let more people try out its Glass project, but becoming an early adopter won’t come easy or cheap.

The Silicon Valley company began taking 50-word Google+ and Twitter applications from users who want to become “Glass Explorers” and try out Google Glass: eyeglasses with small screens attached to give them smartphone-like capabilities.

Users who apply must include the hashtag “#ifihadglass” and explain what they’d do with the nifty gadget. If 50 words aren’t enough, Google is also letting users include up to five pictures and a 15-second video.

Unfortunately for minors and people elsewhere on the globe, users must live in the U.S. and be at least 18 to enter.

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Google plans on choosing only a small number of applicants, and those who are chosen will have to pay to be “explorers.”

Google said those selected will have to cough up $1,500, plus tax, for their Glass Explorer Editions. Additionally, they must pick up the device in person in either San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles so they can “attend a special pick-up experience.”

To entice user applications, Google released a video of the device in action, which can be seen above. The company also announced new details about Glass, saying it will come in charcoal, tangerine, shale, cotton white and sky-blue colors.

With Glass, Google said users can record video, translate speech, send messages, perform Google+ Hangouts and get directions.

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