Google to pursue Glass project under new name

New York: Despite its failure to hit the bull's eye in its first run, Google is not ready to let its Glass project slide. The company is now pursuing the project under a new name.

The project has now been named Project Aura, though it is still being headed by Ivy Ross, who previously ran the Glass project, Wall Street Journal reported.

The Project Aura team has been hiring engineers, software developers and project managers from Amazon.com's hardware-focused research division Lab126.

Google swooped in as Lab126 laid off dozens of engineers who worked on its failed Fire smartphone.

Aura is working on the next incarnation of Glass, but the team is also developing other wearable technology, according to job descriptions on business-networking site LinkedIn.

Dmitry Svetlov, a software development manager who joined Aura in August from Lab126, reportedly described the project as "Glass & beyond" on his LinkedIn profile and said the team is "building cool wearables".

The initial version of Glass, which sold for $1,500, prompted a privacy backlash because users could record video in public places without others noticing. Google has stopped selling it.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was reported as saying earlier this year that the company was not giving up on Glass because wearable technology is a potentially big new market.

Google is quietly distributing a new version of Glass to companies in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and energy. Hopefully, the new Aura team could take the technology in new directions.