Google seeks guinea pigs for glasses project

Google (GOOG) wants people to help it develop its high-tech specs project called Glass, and has put out a call for applications.

You won't get paid, though. In fact, the company is asking "explorers" to plunk down $1,500 plus tax for their own glasses and travel to New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles to pick them up in person.

That seems a little stingy for a company with nearly $15 billion in the bank. But people are jumping into the contest, sending in their applications of 50 words or less on Twitter and Google's social-networking site, Google+. The entries are due by the end of the month.

Google is clearly looking for online influencers in the contest. It wants people who use Twitter, and it's encouraging photos and a short video with each application. It wants people who have a spare $1,500 to blow on the technology.

The company is revealing a little more about what those high-tech glasses actually do. From a series of photos posted on the Glass website, it looks users will be able to take photos of what they see by simply saying, "take a picture." They can record movies. They can see maps and directions on the lenses. They can get flight status information and ask questions, such as "How long is the Brooklyn Bridge?"

Google has posted a video of what wearing the glasses looks like.

People are responding on Twitter using the #ifihadglass hashtag. A restaurant owner said she would record a shift at work. A baseball umpire said he would document his behind-the-plate view. Other people promised to record and share their road trips. Others said they would take more photos of their daiy lives.

But the #ifihadglass jokes were coming in fast and furious as well. Here are some of the more humorous responses:

• "I would try to look cool while I was gobbling motion-sickness pills by the handful."

• "I would ask them how to fight a mugger while they were being stolen off my face."

• "I would walk around yelling 'Enhance' while obviously checking out hot girls."

• "I'd look like half my face was scaffolded for resurfacing."

• "I'd look like elves had given up building a monorail to connect my ears."

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