As a few of you may know, Google has been pushing Project Glass for some time. At first many people thought it was a hoax or just some far-fetched prototype.

Google, however, is silencing these rumors by announcing that Project Glass will be shipped out in 2013 to those who pre-order the unit...

Essentially, Google aims to bring augmented reality into the everyday lives of normal people. It would be like something out of Star Wars or Iron Man. Imagine, walking down the street with a marker showing you how to get to your destination. Or having a heads up display render information about your surroundings in real time. However, this won't be a consumer item. It will actually be like a closed beta test of the product.

Entitled the Explorer Edition, those who pre-order will recieve a functioning pair of the "Google Goggles". Starting at $1500, this isn't something for everyone. I know I'd much rather drop that kind of money on this rather than a Mars III though. The thing is, you will have to have the money and a friend inside Google to get a pair.

Don't fret though, as the consumer edition is rumored to be available in 2014. By then, Project Glass shouldn't carry as large of a price tag, nor will it have numerous firmware issues and bugs. I'd hate to have it tell me to drive off a cliff. Between now and 2014, Google will likely have to answer many ethical queries regarding such things as the aforementioned statement. What if you could hack it and have X-Ray vision? What if it could tell you someone's personal information through facial recognition?

I'm interested to see where Google takes this. Don't expect too much information regarding it though between now and the launch period, as Google likely has volumes of NDAs prepared for early adopters.