Google Glass will help fight the antisocial and `` emasculating '' habit of compulsive smartphone checking , Google co-founder Sergey Brin said in a surprise appearance at the TED Conference Wednesday . In his 10-minute TED talk , Brin did n't provide concrete new details on Glass , a cross between a smartphone and a pair of glasses . But he did confess that , having used Glass , he felt emasculated and isolated every time he checked his regular smartphone . `` You 're actually socially isolating yourself with your phone , '' Brin told the audience . `` I feel like it 's kind of emasculating ... . You 're standing there just rubbing this featureless piece of glass . In contrast to a smartphone , Google Glass allows people to keep their head up as digital information is overlaid onto their world , no matter where their gaze is pointed . `` I whip this out and focus on it as though I have something very important to attend to , '' Brin added later , holding up his phone . `` This [ Google Glass ] really takes away that excuse ... . It really opened my eyes to how much of my life I spent secluded away in e-mail or social posts . '' Opinion : Why life through Google Glass should be for our eyes only . Brin also said Glass helps advance a longstanding dream of his to let users receive highly relevant information without actually having to run searches . `` My vision when we started Google 15 years ago was that eventually you would n't have to have a search query at all — the information would just come to you as you needed it , '' Brin said . `` This is the first form factor that can deliver that vision . '' Of course , devices like Google Glass are sure to have downsides as well . Hopefully not too many conversations fall dead as one party becomes immersed in highly targeted information overlaid onto their view of the other person . Surely losing your friend 's eye contact halfway through a sentence would be emasulating and socially isolating in its own way . See Wired 's coverage of TED 2013 .
Sergey Brin : Google Glass will help fight the habit of compulsive smartphone checking . Brin : `` You 're actually socially isolating yourself with your phone ... I think that's a really bad idea, because it makes you feel like an idiot and not very smart at all. The Google co-founder made a surprise appearance at the TED Conference Wednesday . Google Glass is a wearable headset that displays real-time info from the Web .