Although Google will make this more popular due to their marketing efforts and brand, it's hardly their brainchild. Tom Furness developed similar devices decad

Although Google will make this more popular due to their marketing efforts and brand, it's hardly their brainchild. Tom Furness developed similar devices decades ago: Once out of the military lab, this was a key project of the Human Interface Technology Lab at UW in Seattle in the early 1990's. Updating for smaller chips and components contributes to the current form-factor which includes the front-facing camera not present in the earliest versions. The upside of course is that this might finally get some traction with Google's budget and efforts.