The Google Glass has hit the fans, with Google Glass Glasses starting to ship to those who won the right to receive their very own Google Glass Glasses by wooing Google in the #IfIHadGlass contest on Twitter and Google+. It’s a big deal, at least for some, because at this point in time nobody else can buy Google Glass – only the 10,000 people who won the right to purchase them (at $1500 per) will have them along with, of course, a select few at Google. So, what are the best uses for Google Glass? Here are what the If I Had Glass contest winners plan to do. But first, just what are Google Glass Glasses?

The easiest way to think of Google Glass is to imagine an iPhone that looks like a pair of spectacles, instead of, well, a phone.

 

In fact, if you imagine an iPhone with Siri and Facetime, with Facetime – or at least the video camera – running or available at all times, and aimed at the same place as your eyes (so that the camera is capturing what you are seeing, in real time), that’s pretty much Google Glass.

You can talk to it, and give it commands, and dictate messages, just like you can with the iPhone. In fact, as best as we can tell, if you already have an iPhone 4S or 5, you could just strap that to your head and accomplish much the same thing, without shelling out the $1500.

Interestingly, although perhaps not surprisingly, many of the contest winners were celebrities and other well-known individuals.

Here are some of the best uses to which the winners intend to put Google Glass:

Neil Patrick Harris, of How I Met Your Mother fame (among other things), said “I’d show what it’s like to act on the set of HIMYM all day!”

 

Alyssa Milano (remember her?) says that she will “…take all of you on my humanitarian missions with @unicefusa so we can affect positive change together!”

We thought that was particularly nice.

And, being Trekkie geeks, we loved what actor Levar Burton wrote: “#IfIHadGlass It would be a downgrade. -Geordi La Forge”

Here are some of the other cool uses to which the winners pledged to put their Google Glass Glasses:

I could bring Marvel fans even deeper inside our comics and films. (Ryan Penagos, Editorial Director at Marvel)

I would walk the Great Wall of China. (Jason Squatriglia, Investment Banker)

Helping wellness, fitness and public health communities see how the platform can help solve the obesity epidemic. (Bryan K. O’Rourke, CEO, Adviser, Technologist, Entrepreneur & Financeer In Fitness, Wellness, & Tech)

I’d make a TV show about how to navigate your love life. (Steve Ward, Dating, Relationship & Lifestyle Expert)

I would give a great perspective from the NASCAR Pits & Garages before & during the races! (Benny Gordon, NASCAR Nationwide driver of the #24 car, and the driver of the NASCAR K&N #66 car)

I would share with fans what it’s like to live touring with my rock band. (Steve Morgan, Guitarist for Stellar Revival)

I’d use it to make a time lapse movie of a week at Burning Man. (Jason O’Grady, Journalist)

I would help people feel the excitement of Beethoven, Chopin or Mozart by performing a piano concerto live in POV. (Lang Lang, Pianist)

I would document the careers of the most talented young artists in Nashville as they fight to rise above the noise. (Chase Coy, Producer, Nashville)

I would film myself at the office for a week, coding a fully working social network from scratch. (Siavash Mahmoudian, Web Developer)

I am a large animal surgeon. If I had glass i would video surgical procedures for my 520 students. (Joanne Hardy, Large Animal Surgeon)

I would use them (from concept to full ops. system) to help overcrowded Animal Shelters place homeless pets in real time. (Susin Garcia, Graphic Communications)

I would document and show the world what it means to be homeless. (Dustin Meyer, Award-Winning Wedding and Portrait Photographer)

 

Now to see if they all really do what they said they would do.

Andrej Karpathy, a Computer Science PhD candidate at Stanford, compiled a full list of those who won the #IfIHadGlass contest, at least via Twitter. You can see Karpathy’s full list of Google Glass winners here.