applications for Google Glass. Currently, Glass developers can only
build apps that are essentially web-based services that talk to the
user's hardware through a set of relatively limited APIs. At its I/O
developer conference earlier this year, Google announced that it would
soon release its so-called Glass Development Kit (GDK), which would
let them build Android-based apps for Glass that can run directly on
the device.
So far, however, Google hasn't launched the GDK. Instead, Google today
encouraged developers who are waiting for the GDK to start working on
Android apps for Glass using the standard Android SDK (API Level 15)
to try out their ideas.
As Google notes, developers can use the SDK to access low-level
hardware to render OpenGL and use stock Android UI widgets, for
example. Developers can also access the accelerometer of Glass through
the SDK.
Glass, after all, runs Android 4.0.4, so it's a pretty well-known
platform for many developers. To help newcomers get started, though,
the company also released a number of sample apps (a stopwatch,
compass and level) today that highlight some of the things developers
can do with Android on Glass. Over the next few weeks, Glass team
member Alain Vongsouvanh writes on Google+ today, the team will also
use these sample apps to "demonstrate the migration path between a
traditional Android app and a full Glass experience."
For Glass to reach its full potential, developers need better access
to the device's hardware, so it's nice to see Google moving ahead with
this. It's still a bit of a surprise that Google hasn't released the
GDK yet. And the fact that it made today's announcement indicates that
it could still be a few weeks out. If you're a Glass developer,
though, now is probably a good time to start thinking about how you
would use Android on Glass.
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