Teardown: Google Glass
- A dismantled Google Glass. Info and photo courtesy: Catwig.com (www.catwig.com/google-glass-teardown). The United Kingdom will be the first country (outside the US) to sell the hi-tech gadget in May.
- The Glass camera seems to be of typical smartphone-level size and format. It is not coaxially aligned with the wearer's eye. The camera and display appear to talk to the CPU independently, with no direct connection between each other.
- Glass uses a folded light pathway consisting of only a small handful of optical elements. Collectively they make the display's image appear to float a few feet from your face, in the top right corner of your vision. In the final photo, you can see
- The Glass display is very small. It is adhered to the inside of the internal frame with light glue around the edge of the display board. For scale, the pixels are roughly 1/8th the physical width of those on the iPhone 5's retina display.
- Another flex PCB, this one much more intricate, connects the main logic board to an assembly containing the display, camera, and some other sensors. The flexprint PCB holds Glass' inertial sensor, an InvenSense MPU-9150. Also included is what seems
- Just in front of the battery pod is a bone conduction speaker, which seems to double as a tactile switch.
- To keep the unit's weight distributed more evenly, Glass keeps its battery in a rounded bit behind the wearer's ear. The single-cell Lithium Polymer battery sits at the end of the flexprint PCB and is marked as having a capacity of 2.1 Wh (roughly
- The main logic board was now exposed. The inwards-facing side holds an RF module, some small connectors and support ICs, and copper noting that this is "a GOOGLE [X] production". A flex PCB and an RF cable, anchored with some metal tabs and a U.FL
- When a Glass users looks like they are pensively tapping their temple, they are interacting with this sensor. The touchpad is a full custom module made by Synaptics, and is driven by a Synaptics T1320A touchpad controller.
- Removing the casing exposed a few parts, including the separate touchpad module on the right side of the unit.
- On pealing off the plastic casings around the display, located just next to the main prism, it exposes the numerous internal screws and mechanism.
- Please Note: Much of the dis-assembly ahead was specialized, and required a certain precision in dexterity to pull off. That said, if you're careful and familiar with disassembling consumer products, Glass did not seem to present any major lurking
- The Glass isn't currently compatible with prescription glasses, although plans are in the work to support them. However, as a random experiment, involved detaching the mechanism from the frame and simply attaching the Glass "pod" to a pair of
The Google Glass goes on sale tomorrow, April 15, only in the US for an estimated 1,500 dollars. Only those who are 18 years and above are eligible to but the gadget. Ever wondered what makes this glass so special? Our friends from catwig.com did
Teardown: Google Glass
Next Story