“OK Glass”

That’s what Google Glass users have to mutter whenever they wish to command the device to perform a certain task.  Not complicated, simple to remember, easy to pronounce, and it sounds quite formal. But what if Google Glass had used a different “hotword”?  Would people be more or less interested in the device?  Would it actually affect the device in any way?

I think it would, especially when you consider some of the other phrases that Google was seriously considering as the command prompt for its speccy device.

Amanda Rosenberg, Glass Marketing Manager, has finally made the origins of  “OK Glass” known.

In April of 2012, Rosenberg dined with Glass Product Manager Mat Balez and his wife. Balez had been working on Glass for quite some time at that point, but the project was still in its infancy, it didn’t even have a marketing team yet.  Rosenberg wanted in on the Glass team but the dinner ended and she was yet to pitch her marketing skills to Balez.

During the drive back, Balez made it known to Rosenberg that the Glass team had been working on a “hotword” for Glass.  Rosenberg has no idea what he meant, but concluded that it referred to a phrase that set off the Glass menu.  The only thing that came to her mind was “OK Glass.”  She did not tell reveal that to Balez right there and then, as she wanted to mull over it more.

When she got home, she tried to come up with other “hotwords” but remained fixated on “OK Glass.”  Though that was the case, she still tried to pitch in other phrases as you can see from this email:

Image source: The Next Web

A week after the email was sent, “OK Glass” was finally implemented.  Rosenberg assumed that because her idea was used for the project, she must also be hired to work on the Glass marketing team, only to be later informed that’s “not really how it works.”  She was interviewed a week later and “has been terrorising the Glass team ever since.”

Emil Protalinski of The Next Web sent an email to Balek asking for a list of alternative suggestions that were proposed as the Glass “hotword.”  Though the whole list hasn’t been shared, those that he did reveal are pretty interesting:

“Listen up Glass”

“Hear me now”

“Let me use Glass to”

“Go Go Glass”

“Clap on”

“Device, please”

“3, 2, 1…”

“Glassicus”

“Glass alive”

“Pew pew pew”

Seriously, Google should take these “hotwords” anyway and make them available for Glass users – just allow them to choose which phrase they want to use to prompt their device.

Wouldn’t you just fall over laughing if you saw a man or woman wearing a business suit, sporting Google Glass, muttering, “Pew pew pew, Call Tom,” every few minutes?

The guys from Phandroid had some ideas of their own, in case Google later decides to allow for hotword customization:

“Whose Your Daddy, Glass”

“Okay Bing… Just Kidding Whaddup Glass”

“Knock Knock”

“Ring-A-Ling-A-Ling”

“Rubber baby buggy bumpers”

“Take a picture, enhance… enhance”

“Ok Jarvis”

I’m pretty sure the second to the last option would have people sending daggers at you.