Google Glass Gets a New Look

The Verge sums it up thusly: "Google Glass just got a lot less geeky." That's due to today's announcement of the Titanium Collection for Google Glass, a fashion-forward collection of four extra-light titanium frames that will offer an option to those with bad vision—or those who don't want to use the standard headband Glass ships with. Mashable reports that the new frame styles (named Split, Thin, Bold, and Curve) are available to those in the Google Glass beta program for $225 (on top of the $1,499 they paid for Glass, of course).

The frames are filled with basic, non-prescription lenses, but the Verge reports Google has teamed with "preferred eye-care professionals" with the know-how to create prescription lenses. (Healthcare provider VSP will even foot a portion of the frame's cost.) At Slate, Will Oremus writes that the frames introduce an interesting question: Will they "persuade the public that [Glass is] more than a futuristic novelty item"? Glass has, to date, been presented "as an experiment, a prototype, an exploratory project. The launch of a prescription Glass line feels like a big step toward mainstream consumerization, especially given the polished feel of the design." (More Google Glass stories.)