An app that lets people use Google Glass to check-out items in high street stores and pay using Bitcoin has been released in the US.
California-based RedBottle Design introduced the app, dubbed GlassPay, at the Demo 2013 Conference in Santa Clara. With GlassPay, Google Glass and Android users simply scan product barcodes, assemble a 'shopping cart', make the purchase using bitcoins, and pick up merchandise in a centralised location or on the move.
"With GlassPay, we're taking one of the most basic cultural experiences, the act of purchasing items, and bringing it into the future," says Guy Paddock, CEO of RedBottle Design. "Bitcoins are gaining significant acceptance in the world-wide marketplace, and we know that face-to-face, app-based shopping and purchasing is in the next wave. We're ready for it."
For retailers, Bitcoin transactions are free of surcharges and merchants can track what customers view as well as buy, in much the same way that online stores do currently.
Attendees at Demo 2013 will be the first to experience shopping with GlassPay for Android, released on the Play marketplace. The full platform, including GlassPay for Android and Google Glass, is expected to be in the Play marketplace and Glass Boutique respectively, in the second quarter of 2014, after Google Glass becomes publicly available.