The recent layoffs in Amazon have been good to a few people. It would seem that Google has snatched them up for "Project Aura." This is just Google Glass under a new name, management, and team, The Verge reported. Google Glass head honcho Ivy Ross is still leading the project but now answers to Nest big boss Tony Fadell.
The reason for this mashup and rebranding could mean a few different things. First, Google Glass, under whatever name, is still clearly a go. Second, the project is still under Google and not a separate entity under the Alphabet umbrella even with the slight confusion with Nest, Engadget reported.
Third, Tony Fadell, Nest CEO, volunteered to put life back in the almost dead project and renaming to "Project Aura" could be his way of consolidating his hold on the direction of his initiative. And last, the new hires that Amazon's Lab126 kicked out have interesting backgrounds that could mean an interesting turn for the project.
This last detail is most interesting. The newbies are engineers, software developers, and project managers from the hardware-focused Lab126. According to the LinkedIn profile of Dmitry Svetlov, one of Project Aura's software development managers, he mentioned that the new team is also "building cool wearables."
Wall Street Journal reported that Google scrapped the project after complaints that Google Glass could be used in public and record without anyone else knowing. They have also since announced that the release of Google Glass was premature and not yet fine-tuned enough for the consumer market.
Since the January halt on Google Glass, however, the company was distributing it discreetly to the health care, manufacturing, and energy sectors. Project Aura's new direction is expected to revolutionize the product. A full redesign of the product could still be a year away, but these developments amidst the potential of wearable technology will be closely watched.
