"OK Glass" might be the official catchphrase, but alternatives were "Go Go Glass" and "Pew pew pew"

David Tom

Posts: 149   +3

glass pew google glass mobile computing wearable technology catchphrase hotword

In the early beginnings of Project Glass, Google had yet to appoint a marketing team and was in search of an industry guru. As a result, Mat Balez, the Glass Project Manager, had setup a meeting with Amanda Rosenberg to discuss a possible career. Although no one knew it at the time, Amanda would go on to create the device’s “hotword”, the short catchphrase that’s needed to precede any command.  So what did she come up with?  It’s just two words: “OK Glass”.

Although the phrase itself may not be too interesting, the story behind it is rather compelling. Luckily, Amanda has been given permission by Google to reveal the phrase’s origin, which she fittingly did through her Google+ account.

According to her post, the evening began with a simple dinner between the two, and Amanda desperately wanting a future job with the soon-to-be-established Glass marketing team. Despite her ability to impress Mat with a series of hilarious anecdotes, she had yet to display her true potential.

Her opportunity arose when Mat asked if she had any suggestions for a “hotword” for Glass, but Amanda had never even heard of this term before. After finally deducing its meaning, and continuing to appear deep in thought, she could only come up with one idea – “OK Glass”. Wanting to spend more than just a few seconds on such an important phrase, Amanda ensured Mat that she would get back to him with a few more ideas.

However, often your first instinct is your best, and Amanda conceded that she could do no better. She fired off a quick email to Mat justifying the decision, and eagerly awaited a response. In explaining her reasoning, she wrote, " 'OK'- the most frequently used word on the planet. Denotes approval, acceptance, agreement, assent or acknowledgement, but is also a frequent expression used for transitions in conversation." A week later her suggestion was implemented, and not long after, she was added to the Glass marketing team.

Although “OK Glass” will officially be the device’s catchphrase, it’s quite amusing to hear a few of the alternatives. Included in her initial brainstorming list were the following:

  • Hear me now
  • Listen up Glass
  • Go Go Glass
  • Clap on
  • Device, please
  • Glassicus
  • 3,2,1...
  • and Pew pew pew

I don't know about you, but I could definitely find some enjoyment in listening to thousands of Glass owners yell "Pew pew pew" every time they want to make a call or browse the web. On second thought, that might actually be a tad annoying.

For those wanting to learn more about the "OK Glass" decision, be sure to read her in depth Google+ post.

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The list seems to be made of how people will perceive the product when they see it first. That's fair. I see no need for any brainstorming on this one...

I'll add mine to the list, in the order of being the most likely first response:

1. "Oh, f.off!"
2. "F.Nerd!"
3. "Freak!"
4. "Yuck!"
5. "F. Idi0t!"
6. "Terminator!"

Dear Google, feel free to pick one from the list, and I can give you a reasonable promise that I won't try to sue you for the copyright.

So, for the list of "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People", I would have buying this device as a definitive #1 ;)

To put it otherwise, if I were given a pair of these for free, plus $1500 of pocket money, I still wouldn't put them on, because my friends will think that I must have finally lost it. So I think anyone paying for it must have either lost it long ago or never had much sense in the first place.
 
I think they should have made the hot word a generic sounding servant's name. Jeeves would be perfect I think.

'OK Glass' makes it sound like Glass and I are a team and we're going to do something together and I need it's approval. I don't want to be forced to be polite to technology.
 
Why are they trying so hard. Since they used a common English word for the company ('google'), why not one for the product?.......'goggles'.........or a variation, like 'gggls'.

Happy Day! Send royalty check c/o this website.
 
Why are they trying so hard. Since they used a common English word for the company ('google'), why not one for the product?.......'goggles'.........or a variation, like 'gggls'.

Happy Day! Send royalty check c/o this website.

Yeah, try gag-all ;)
 
I like my password better that I used to unlock my phone - "Shall we play a game?"
 
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