Eric Schmidt: Google Glass is “a big and very fundamental platform”

Last September, Industry Canada gave Canadians hope that Glass, Google’s initial foray into wearable eyewear technology, would finally be sold to consumers. The Canadian regulator said, “Glass has regulatory approval from Industry Canada and we’re super excited to bring Glass north of the border. We don’t have a timeframe to share at this time, but Glass will comply with all regulations when it launches in Canada.”

Shortly thereafter, Google announced Glass was “graduating from Google X labs,” noting the open beta Explorer program would be closed on January 19th, crushing any plans for its broader arrival.

However, all is not over for those seeking to wear this technology. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Eric Schmidt, Google’s Executive Chairman, believes Glass is “a big and very fundamental platform for Google.

“We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us canceling the whole project, which isn’t true. Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it,” he told the paper.

Google Glass was announced in 2012 and began selling in May 2014 for $1,500 to customers in the US. There’s no indication of when “Google Glass 2.0” will be available, but a recent patent filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office showed off a slimmer model with the familiar touch-sensitive side panel.

Perhaps we’ll hear additional details about the plans for Glass at Google I/O in May.