What’s the point of bein the co-founder of one of the biggest technology companies in the world if you can’t try out the latest and greatest toys? Such is the case with Sergey Brin, the Russian-American engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Google with its current CEO, Larry Page. Brin was spotted rocking what appears to be a working model of Project Glass, Google’s ambitious wearable augmented reality display. Two photos of Brin and the “real” Project Glass were snapped by photographer Thomas Hawk.

The hardware on display roughly follows what we saw in model photos earlier this week, though it’s not quite as sleek or unobtrusive. The electronics housing slopes back on a glasses-style strut curving towards the user’s right eye, presenting a transparent screen. For Brin’s model the housing is a flat black instead of glossy white, and the display itself seems to be about 1-1.5cm thick instead of wafer thin. They definitely seem a little chunkier than the ones shown in the promotional photos, but keep the basic concept intact.

So how do they work? Brin presented himself to tech pundit Robert Scoble to show off the hardware. While Scoble wasn’t allowed to wear Project Glass himself, he could see the tiny screen operating through the transparent display. While Brin said that the final design may be self-contained, it’s possible that the Google executive had a remote battery or processing unit stashed in a backpack he was wearing at the time. He said that at this point, the software is (not surprisingly) pretty buggy. Google has announced plans for public tests of Project Glass, but hasn’t said when or where they’ll begin.

What say you, readers? For me the possibility of a truly augmented reality interface overcomes the “nerd factor” – but then, I work as an Android news blogger. My opinion may be just a tiny bit subjective.

[via SlashGear]