It was seen as one Google 's highest profile failures , and forced the firm stop selling itsprototype wearable computer in a pair of glasses . However , Google boss Eric Schmidt has confirmed that in fact the project is still going strong - and remains ' a big and very fundamental platform for Google ' . Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal that it has been put under the control of Tony Fadell 'to make it ready for users . ' Scroll down for video . Google boss Eric Schmidt has confirmed that in fact the project is still going strong - and remains ' a big and very fundamental platform for Google ' . Google dubbed the first set of several thousand Glass users . as 'Explorers . ' But , as the Explorers hit the streets , they drew . stares and jokes . Some people viewed the device , capable of . surreptitious video recording , as an obnoxious privacy . intrusion , deriding the once-proud Explorers as 'Glassholes . ' 'It looks super nerdy , ' said Shevetank Shah , a Washington , . DC-based consultant , whose Google Glass now gathers dust in a. drawer . ' I 'm a card carrying nerd , but this was one card too . many . ' Google stopped selling the first version of Glass and shut its Explorer program in January , moving the project out of its Google X research lab into a standalone unit . Ivy Ross remained head of the Glass team but Tony Fadell , head of Google 's Nest connected home division , now oversees strategy for the project . Cources claim Fadell wants to redesign the headset from 'scratch ' and wo n't release it until 'it 's perfect ' . 'It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google , ' Schmidt told the WSJ . 'We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us canceling the whole project , which is n't true . 'Google is about taking risks and there 's nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we 're ending it . ' He said Glass , like Google 's self-driving car , is a long-term project . 'That 's like saying the self-driving car is a disappointment because it 's not driving me around now , ' he said . 'These things take time . ' Sources claim Glass ' new boss Tony Fadell ( pictured ) wants to redesign the Google headset from 'scratch ' and wo n't release it until it 's complete . One unnamed source told the New York Times that Mr Fadell 'is a product guy and he 's not going to release something until it 's perfect ' The firm brought in Tony Fadell from Nest - a home automation company Google bought in 2014 - to lead the team , replacing previous boss Ivy Ross . Ms Ross still works on the project and runs 'day-to-day ' operations . In a statement in January , Mr Fadell said : 'Early Glass efforts have broken ground and allowed us to learn what 's important to consumers and enterprises alike . ' I 'm excited to be working with Ivy to provide direction and support as she leads the team and we work together to integrate those learnings into future products . ' An unnamed source added Mr Fadell 'is a product guy and he 's not going to release something until it 's perfect . ' The previous Google Glass headset was launched in a beta version under the firm 's Explorer programme . This programme gave software developers the chance to buy Glass for $ 1,500 ( £990 ) , and was launched in the US in 2013 , and the UK last summer . Google announced it was killing off the current version of its Glass headset ( pictured ) last month . It did n't abandon the project entirely , though , and promised to develop smart glasses under a different guise . Google Glass headset was launched in a beta version under the firm 's Explorer programme . This programme gave developers the chance to buy Glass ( pictured ) for $ 1,500 ( £990 ) , and launched in the US in 2013 . The firm had already been thought to be developing a new version , with chips made by Intel , to go on sale later this year . Aside from saying it was committed to working on the future of the product , Google gave no timescale for the launch of an improved product . 'It 's hard to believe Glass started as little more than a scuba mask attached to a laptop , ' the Glass team said in a post on Google+ last month . 'We kept on it , and when it started to come together , we began the Glass Explorer Program as a kind of 'open beta ' to hear what people had to say . ' 'Glass was in its infancy , and you took those very first steps and taught us how to walk . 'Well , we still have some work to do , but now we 're ready to put on our big kid shoes and learn how to run . ' Google boss Sergey Brin ( pictured ) was spotted without the high-tech specs at a Silicon Valley red-carpet event last year . Since the headset was unveiled in 2013 , the 41-year-old was rarely seen without them . This fuelled rumours that Google was looking to abandon the headset .
Google killed off the current version of its Glass headset in last summer . It did n't abandon the project entirely , and promised to develop a range of smart glasses under a different guise . Nest inventor Tony Fadell is leading the Glass project . A source said Mr Fadell 'wo n't release something until it 's perfect '