Details on Google's Project Glass haven't been the easiest thing to come by since the wearable computing effort was announced earlier this year, but Google execs have been getting a bit more talkative and eager to give demonstrations as of late. You can now add product lead Steve Lee to that list, who's given a fairly wide-ranging interview to Fast Company on the project's origins and its future. Not surprisingly, he confirmed that the early prototypes were a fair bit bulkier -- starting a laptop in a backpack -- and that even the current prototypes are still "very early," although they do handle more than just photos (he gives Maps as one example). Lee does see photo-taking as a "key aspect" to the device, though.

He also cast some doubt on initial reports that the devices would be available this year for between $250 and $600, saying that would be "pretty aggressive timing," but he also noted that he "wouldn't be on this project if it was like a five-year endeavor." As for the future, he says that contact lenses with the technology is a natural evolution but a definite "long-term thing," and that a nearer term goal is to "serve everyone and make this is a universal device," adding that they've "prototyped lots of different form factors to accommodate all those folks." All of that comes just from the first part of a two-part interview, though -- the rest is promised later this week.

Google's Steve Lee talks about the history and future of Project Glass originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 16:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.