Google Glass users could have been forced to activate their devices by saying "Hear me now," "Go go Glass," or even "Glass alive" were it not for the intervention of Product Marketing Manager Amanda Rosenberg. Before she joined the Google Glass team, Rosenberg was the one who suggested "OK Glass" (along with some variants) as an activation phrase; her suggestion won out over many much worse ideas.

Rosenberg describes in a Google+ post how she suggested "OK, Glass" over dinner with Mat Balez, the Glass product manager, and his wife. Rosenberg was not yet formally involved with Glass, but Balez told her how the Glass team was struggling to come up with a "hotword" to get the glasses to listen, and he asked if she had any suggestions.

Rosenberg says that "OK, Glass" popped immediately into her head, but she followed up with an e-mail suggesting two alternate scenarios using "OK": OK plus a fixed keyword chosen by Google ("Android, "Google," or "Glass"), or OK plus a keyword chosen by the user.

The team ultimately went with "OK, Glass," abandoning its working list of far more awkward hot phrases ("Clap on"? Shudder). Google may eventually open the hotword to user customization—but for now, "OK, Glass" will do.