Nowadays, it feels that elements of science-fiction are becoming real in respect of wearable technology like smartwatches, smart lights, smart patches and other great and strange wearable devices. Smart glasses once seemed to be joining the fray, but they’ve become pretty absent after the disappearance of both the Snapchat Glasses and Google Glass (the consumer version, anyway). Now with other companies aiming to get into the market (i.e., Apple is rumored to be looking into it), it seems that Google is looking to get back into the game — at least based on a new patent — and here’s what interesting about them so far…

First, the design appears to be a great improvement from the original version. Smartglasses were sold to consumers based on the idea offering a multitude of technical innovations while still looking harmless and non-invasive. Rather than the lack of lenses — creepy — and a rectangular prism acting as a screen/camera, the new patent shows wiring being integrated into a pair of normal-looking glasses lenses. This way, Google is hiding “smart” in the “glasses,” thus creating true and innocuous “smartglasses”.

Second, some of the extra technical components appear to be hidden within the arms of glasses, which are called “side-pods” in the patent. The diagrams seem to allude to an integrated microphone and touchpad, as well as two circular components on the arms that could act as earpieces or be clipped behind the ears. There’s a possibility of the glasses being able to transmit audio via the bone conduction method.

Well, looks like we’ll have to wait and see what the crew in Mountain View has is store in the future…