GlassTesla Allows You to Control The Tesla S With Google Glass

Not long ago, Sasha Katta the independent software engineer and a well-known tech newsmaker surprised us again with a new product. At the beginning of the week, Katta came out with the first app designed for the Google Glass platform. The app is called Glasstesla and it matches the Tesla Model S electric car with the innovative augmented reality Glasses from Google.

Now, it would be too much if we would call this new product a “niche” application. Besides, the Model S sales in the United States in the first quarter of 2013 were estimated at 4,750 items, while the Google Glass Explorer project were estimated at only 2,000 costumers. So, the Tesla owners and the Glass users may be included in the category of quickly adopters, but a recent Venn Diagram related to these two showed that we’re talking about a small overlay.

But, it looks like Katta found that overlay enough and because he easily gained access to a Tesla Model S via a family member, the engineer designed the app just for his weekend fun.  The engineer says that the app is more a reverse-engineer job of the official Android app offered by Tesla, and that the idea came up due to the fact that the firm doesn’t give developers the opportunity to play with an open toolkit.

In other words, the new app is gathering all the specs of the original Android app,  features that are not actually needed while users drive the car. But, we must say that the app is centered on those features that help users while the car is parked, such as:  the internal temperature can be examined and controlled, the charging can be switched on and off, users can open and close the sunroof, lock and unlock the doors, toot the horn and flash the lights.  Even more, the car can be ping-ed in order to see it on a map if you find yourself parked away from a charger station. We can say the app includes a set of high-end features for a high-end car.

Anyway, keep in mind that the head-up screen functionality that could represent a great advantage of the Glass form is not available now. But, Katta claims that he will be ready to include this feature when Google will include the voice API for Glass.

Now, we all know that while driving our eyes and hands are pretty busy, so an app that will include voice controls in order to open the sunroof or adjust the temperature and so on, would be more than effective.  Considering all these, we are tempted to believe that the Glasstesla niche project is only the start for something bigger.

Even though this seems to be a great idea, the situation could change if you think about the fact that we need to respect some safe driving rules. So, it won’t be that surprising if the Glass would be banned from moving cars. Such ideas come along with some risks, so we need to wait and see what’s next.