Google Glass Leader Says Goodbye

Just over a year into the job, the leader behind the business side of Google Glass has left his position, Re/code reported.

But Chris O’Neill, the business chief for Google Glass, hasn’t left the Google family. Last year he was named head of global business operations at Google X, the company’s semi-secret facility, but there was no indication of what his new role at Google would be. It was only reported that he was leaving the business side of Glass. While no news was released as to why he was making the switch, Google Glass has had a turbulent year — being officially put on hold at the start of the year.

In January, Google announced that its wearable was officially off the market — but said it could eventually come back. Google insisted then that Google Glass may ride again, but in a different and as of yet undefined form. We later learned that Google Glass would eventually be coming back thanks to the help of an Italian eyeglass company named Luxottica, which planned to redesign the product. That redesign could include features like “longer battery life, improved sound quality and a better display.”

“In Google, there are some second thoughts on how to interpret version 3 [of the eyewear],” the Italian eyeglass maker’s CEO, Massimo Vian, said in April. “What you saw was version 1. We’re now working on version 2, which is in preparation.”

It now appears as though O’Neill won’t be there to lead the Google Glass project — at least not from the business side of things. When Google Glass was shut down on the consumer front, its operations kept up in on the enterprise side as it continued to sell its headgear to auto and medical equipment manufacturers.

According to Re/code’s report, O’Neill joined the Google Glass team after he serving for four years as managing director for Google Canada. He has also been a retail director and filled finance and sales positions since he joined the company a decade ago.

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