The next Google Glass may allow its wearer to take photos using fingers. Droid Life first identified the possibility of a new version of Glass. USA Today also reported the approval of a new Google device called ‘GG1’ by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

While the tech giant has not made any mention yet, a new patent awarded to Google by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) shows Mountain View is working on a "head-mountable device" (HMD) that tracks where its user places his fingers in a frame formation to capture images, according to Tech Times.

Tech Times further reports that according to the patent, the "head-mounting device" which is believed to be the next Google Glass will be equipped with sensors enabled to identify the finger touch and take pictures subsequently. In addition, the device can recognise when its wearer wants to take different image shapes (e.g., orientation of the photo). When hands are placed side by side with the palms facing each other, the device takes it to mean that the user wants a portrait photo.

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. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said, “It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google.” He added, “We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us canceling the whole project, which isn’t true. Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it”.

According to USA Today, Schmidt said Google plans to release new versions of Glass maybe even this year. Though there has been no official announcement from the company, the latest FCC filing of GG1 has given rise to speculations that Google could indeed be back with the next generation of Glass.

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