Google is currently handing out its proprietary tech-smart eyewear, Google Glass, to testers before launch. But before Google Glass even hits the market, it seems the competition over computing eyewear is already heating up. Chinese tech developer Baidu is currently undergoing internal developments of a similar device, albeit playing to their strengths in some key areas, according to a Reuters report.
Baidu spokesperson Kaiser Kuo tells Reuters the company doesn't yet know if the "Baidu Eye," as it's being called internally, will ever see a commercial release, but the device does standout from from Google's upcoming Glass hardware.
"We experiment with every kind of technology that is related to search," Kuo says.
Like Google Glass, the device is mounted on a headset with a small LCD screen to display information to the user, capable of voice search, though the "Baidu Eye" will employ facial recognition on the go with image search as well.
"What you are doing with your camera, for example, taking a picture of a celebrity and then checking on our database to see if we have a facial image match, you could do the same thing with a wearable visual device," Kuo tells Reuters.
And with every future technology comes the required "Minority Report" comparison, in which Tom Cruise is identified on the spot through facial and retinal recognition. Will the day come when we all already know each other's name before ever speaking? Hopefully not.
While Google and Baidu are doing their thing with eyewear, Apple is rumored to be at work on potential wristwear tech under their iOS brand, although some other possibilities have arisen for the company with some recent patent submissions.