Google Glass 2 to get Intel processor with focus on healthcare and construction markets

Despite the difficult birth, high price and privacy concerns, a second generation of Google Glass is in development and will be powered by an Intel processor - and it will be aimed at use in the workplace.

Sources familiar with the matter said an Intel chip will replace the Texas Instruments processor used by the current version of Glass, known as the Explorer Edition and regarded as a highly polished prototype available to buy, rather than a finished consumer-friendly product.

Such a product may no longer be quite so prominent on Google's roadmap, as sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal also claim Intel will promote the new model of Glass to hospitals and manufacturing companies; Intel also wants to develop new workplace uses for the head-mounted device, one source said.

But Intel's plans to convert Glass from a niche consumer product to a workplace tool will not dampen Google's desire to sell Glass as a smartphone accessory to the masses.

Another source speaking to the WSJ said that, of the 300 Google employees working on Glass, fewer than 5% focus on the company's Glass at Work programme, which works with software developers to bring Glass to industries like healthcare, construction and manufacturing. The source added that Intel's focus on pushing Glass into industry use will not change Google's bias towards the consumer market.

Launched with much fanfare in 2012, Google Glass is a head-worn device with a forward-facing camera and a display which is projected into the wearer's right eye.

Glass is controlled by movement of the head, touch inputs and voice, and despite widespread interest from consumers, a price of £1,000, poor battery life and privacy concerns sparked by the discreet camera meant it hasn't yet achieved the mass-market appeal of the smartphone and even other wearables like fitness trackers.

Google recently stopped selling Glass at physical retail stores, including one in London. But despite claims this was due to a lack of demand, Google claims the opposite, and high demand meant an online-only sales strategy was required.

Improved battery life - which can be killed in mere hours when recording video with the current Glass - will be top of Intel's to-do list, and although the company was late to the mobile game, Intel has been working closely with Google in a number of projects. Intel chips power Google's self-driving cars, while the Nexus Player media-streaming device uses an Intel Atom processor.