Google wants 24,000 more Glass testers

Google will be increasing the number of people testing Glass by three times before it officially puts its wearable gadget on shelves for general sale in 2014.

Google announced through a post on Google+ that Glass Explorers or prototype testers will be able to invite three people to join the testing program in the next few weeks. The invitees will have to pay $1,500 each to get hold of the computerized eyeglasses, but they will be treated as one of the original 8,000 Glass testers.

Like the original testers, the new Glass Explorers won’t need to travel to San Francisco, New York or other Google base offices to pick up their prototypes; rather Google will be directly shipping the glasses to them.

Google’s post reads “They’ll be able to buy Glass online and can have it shipped to their home, office, treehouse or igloo,” and “We’re counting on you to get Glass to the people you think will make great Explorers. More Explorers means more feedback, and more feedback means better Glass.”

The search engine giant also announced that existing explorers will have an option to get their tester prototypes exchanged for the new versions of the Glass.

Google also mentioned that “We want to say ‘thank you’ for all the amazing feedback we’ve been getting, so later this year, all Explorers will have a one-time option to swap out their existing Glass for a new one.”

“This hardware update will allow your Glass to work with future lines of shades and prescription frames, and we’ll also include a mono earbud.”

However the deal will not be applied the latest Glass Explorers. Only Explorers who purchased Glass before Oct. 28 will be eligible to register for the exchange within 60 days of the beginning of the exchange program. The offer will expire after 60 days. The testers will be notified about the exchange option in November.

Megha