By . Daniel Bates and Mark Prigg . PUBLISHED: . 13:36 EST, 7 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:46 EST, 7 May 2013 . It is one of the most anticipated pieces of technology since the iPhone - but also one of the most feared. Google's Glass wearable computer is set to go on sale to the public next year - and a growing number of complaints could see it banned in hundreds of public places by the time it launches. Today legal experts warned of a massive 'legal brawl' over the gadget. Google co-founder Sergey Brin wearing Glass, the firm's wearable computer. Today it was revealed establishments such as cinemas, banks, parks and even strip clubs are planning to ban them amid privacy fears . Early 'explorer' versions are being sold for £1,000 ($1,500), although consumer versions are expected to be significantly cheaper. Piper Jaffray, an analyst firm, . estimates that wearable technology and another major initiative, . self-driving cars, could ultimately be a $500 billion opportunity for . the company. In the shorter term, IHS, a forecasting firm, estimates . that shipments of smart glasses, could be as high . as $6.6 million in three years. Already users wearing Google Glass eyewear have been told they are banned from strip clubs, cinemas and casinos because their . owners don’t want them filming there. In West Virginia legislators tried to . make it illegal to use the gadget while driving - and plan to launch . another legal attack before it becomes widely available next year. 'This is just the beginning,' Timothy Toohey, a Los Angeles lawyer specializing in privacy issues, told the New York Times. 'Google Glass is going to cause quite a brawl.' The 5 Point Cafe, a Seattle dive bar, was the first to explicitly ban Glass, launching a campaign to warn customers months before the gadget was available. Many saw it as a publicity stunt - but dozens of places have now followed. Experts say the gadget could challenge privacy laws around the world. 'Google Glass will test the right to privacy versus the First Amendment,' said Bradley Shear, a social media expert at George Washington University. Nick Pickles, director of British privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'The implications of them being controlled by an unknown third party would make phone hacking look like a minor blip. Thad Starner, a pioneer of wearable computing who is a technical adviser to the Glass team, said he and colleagues had experimented with Glass-type devices for years, 'and I can’t think of a single instance where something bad has happened.' However, University of Toronto computer . engineering professor and wearable computer pioneer Steve Mann was at a McDonald’s restaurant in Paris . last when he claims an employee tried to physically remove a similar gadget . he designed from his head. Assault: The three men, one wearing a McDonad's shirt, another with a McDonald's name tag, not visible, demanded to know why Dr Mann had the glasses . Google has tried to play down the controversy. 'We’re acutely aware of those questions,' Schmidt responded to similar concerns raised at Harvard over the device's abilities being so new. 'We want to be very careful that this new invention is not misused ... But I’m always concerned about premature regulation based on fear, as opposed to understanding what’s possible. 'The people who’ve used Glass, including myself, report it as remarkable. I’d like to let it get a little bit farther off a runway before we characterize it in the obvious ways,' Schmidt said. Nerds! In a Tumblr gallery titled, White Men Wearing Google Glass, photos are uploaded showing current users of the device to wide poking and name calling, one such photo pictured . Google Glass offers a uniquely detailed view of your life and your surroundings and while Google’s main interest is selling advertising, there are a whole range of reasons why other people might seek to do all they can to get access to a device. 'The only way to protect yourself and the people around you is to not wear them.' Google says that Glass is a work in progress, with test versions now being released to 2,000 developers. Another 8,000 'explorers,' people handpicked by Google, will soon get a pair after winning an online contest. Google admits the technology is still facing issues. - Google chairman Eric Schmidt . 'We are thinking very carefully about how we design Glass because new technology always raises new issues,' said Courtney Hohne, a Google spokeswoman. However, the firm has also encouraged developers to experiment with the device - and at its developer conference in San Francisco next week is holding sessions dedicated to 'Hacking Google Glass'. 'Our goal is to make the world better,' Google chairman Eric Schmidt said of the device at Harvard University last week. 'We’ll . take the criticism along the way, but criticisms are inevitably from . people who are afraid of change or who have not figured out that there . will be an adaptation of society to it,' he said. 'We want to be very careful that this new invention is not misused ... But I’m always concerned about premature regulation based on fear, as opposed to understanding what’s possible. 'The people who’ve used Glass, including myself, report it as remarkable. I’d like to let it get a little bit farther off a runway before we characterize it in the obvious ways,' Schmidt said. Business owners have been unimpressed. Peter Feinstein, managing partner of Sapphire Gentlemen's Club in Las Vegas, said that patrons will be asked to check the eyewear when they come in. He said: ‘We've been dealing with the cellphone videoing and the picture taking over the years and we are quick to make sure that that doesn't happen in the club. ‘As the sale of (Google Glass) spreads, there'll be more people using them and wanting to use them at places such as a gentlemen's club. ‘If we see those in the club, we would do the same thing that we do to people who bring cameras into the club. Google has released a series of images showing off the glasses being used to capture video . The glasses will also be able to take part in live video chats . ‘If they don't want to check it, we'd be happy to give them a limo ride back to their hotel’. A spokesman for MGM resorts, which owns the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, said that picture-taking was ‘frowned upon’ inside its properties. He said: ‘Security officers on duty ask individuals not to take pictures for the privacy of others in the casino. ‘This new product is nothing new in terms of a challenge for us, because for so many years, the very tiniest of portable lipstick and pinpoint cameras have been around.’ Regal Entertainment Group, one of the . largest cinema chains in the US, added that no recording devices were . permitted into its cinemas. The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino is one of the first to ban Google Glass . With . a quiet wink of an eye Google Glass users will now be able to take a . picture thanks to one of many new apps released and currently in . development for the device. Snap! A new app for Google Glass called Winky allows users to take pictures with the blink of an eye . Ordinarily Glass users must deliver an audible command of, 'OK, Glass, Take a picture,' to kick in the camera's software. However with its release this week program Winky will additionally give users the option of silently ordering the command. 'You . might not think it's hard to say "Ok, Glass Take a Picture" or even . just tap a button. But it's a context switch that takes you out of the . moment, even if just for a second,' Winky's developer Mike DiGiovanni . from Roundarch Isobar explained on his Google+ page on Wednesday. 'I've . taken more pictures today than I have the past 5 days thanks to this,' he continued. 'Sure, they are mostly silly, but my timeline has now . truly become a timeline of where I've been.' However . while pirating images of subjects in public may be one use for the . device, speaking like one will not be allowed, as Geek.com has revealed. Google's . voice translation technology censors curse words, prohibiting its user . from for instance sending a voice-written email containing an . explicative. Currently . there is said to be no way to disable to filter, which would work . similar to Google's SafeSearch option, the website reports.
Cinemas, casinos and strip clubs have already banned Glass .
Calls for a driving ban to be put in place before it launches .
Bars have already banned the headwear, months before it goes on sale .
By . Daniel Bates and Mark Prigg . PUBLISHED: . 13:36 EST, 7 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:46 EST, 7 May 2013 . It is one of the most anticipated pieces of technology since the iPhone - but also one of the most feared. Google's Glass wearable computer is set to go on sale to the public next year - and a growing number of complaints could see it banned in hundreds of public places by the time it launches. Today legal experts warned of a massive 'legal brawl' over the gadget. Google co-founder Sergey Brin wearing Glass, the firm's wearable computer. Today it was revealed establishments such as cinemas, banks, parks and even strip clubs are planning to ban them amid privacy fears . Early 'explorer' versions are being sold for £1,000 ($1,500), although consumer versions are expected to be significantly cheaper. Piper Jaffray, an analyst firm, . estimates that wearable technology and another major initiative, . self-driving cars, could ultimately be a $500 billion opportunity for . the company. In the shorter term, IHS, a forecasting firm, estimates . that shipments of smart glasses, could be as high . as $6.6 million in three years. Already users wearing Google Glass eyewear have been told they are banned from strip clubs, cinemas and casinos because their . owners don’t want them filming there. In West Virginia legislators tried to . make it illegal to use the gadget while driving - and plan to launch . another legal attack before it becomes widely available next year. 'This is just the beginning,' Timothy Toohey, a Los Angeles lawyer specializing in privacy issues, told the New York Times. 'Google Glass is going to cause quite a brawl.' The 5 Point Cafe, a Seattle dive bar, was the first to explicitly ban Glass, launching a campaign to warn customers months before the gadget was available. Many saw it as a publicity stunt - but dozens of places have now followed. Experts say the gadget could challenge privacy laws around the world. 'Google Glass will test the right to privacy versus the First Amendment,' said Bradley Shear, a social media expert at George Washington University. Nick Pickles, director of British privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'The implications of them being controlled by an unknown third party would make phone hacking look like a minor blip. Thad Starner, a pioneer of wearable computing who is a technical adviser to the Glass team, said he and colleagues had experimented with Glass-type devices for years, 'and I can’t think of a single instance where something bad has happened.' However, University of Toronto computer . engineering professor and wearable computer pioneer Steve Mann was at a McDonald’s restaurant in Paris . last when he claims an employee tried to physically remove a similar gadget . he designed from his head. Assault: The three men, one wearing a McDonad's shirt, another with a McDonald's name tag, not visible, demanded to know why Dr Mann had the glasses . Google has tried to play down the controversy. 'We’re acutely aware of those questions,' Schmidt responded to similar concerns raised at Harvard over the device's abilities being so new. 'We want to be very careful that this new invention is not misused ... But I’m always concerned about premature regulation based on fear, as opposed to understanding what’s possible. 'The people who’ve used Glass, including myself, report it as remarkable. I’d like to let it get a little bit farther off a runway before we characterize it in the obvious ways,' Schmidt said. Nerds! In a Tumblr gallery titled, White Men Wearing Google Glass, photos are uploaded showing current users of the device to wide poking and name calling, one such photo pictured . Google Glass offers a uniquely detailed view of your life and your surroundings and while Google’s main interest is selling advertising, there are a whole range of reasons why other people might seek to do all they can to get access to a device. 'The only way to protect yourself and the people around you is to not wear them.' Google says that Glass is a work in progress, with test versions now being released to 2,000 developers. Another 8,000 'explorers,' people handpicked by Google, will soon get a pair after winning an online contest. Google admits the technology is still facing issues. - Google chairman Eric Schmidt . 'We are thinking very carefully about how we design Glass because new technology always raises new issues,' said Courtney Hohne, a Google spokeswoman. However, the firm has also encouraged developers to experiment with the device - and at its developer conference in San Francisco next week is holding sessions dedicated to 'Hacking Google Glass'. 'Our goal is to make the world better,' Google chairman Eric Schmidt said of the device at Harvard University last week. 'We’ll . take the criticism along the way, but criticisms are inevitably from . people who are afraid of change or who have not figured out that there . will be an adaptation of society to it,' he said. 'We want to be very careful that this new invention is not misused ... But I’m always concerned about premature regulation based on fear, as opposed to understanding what’s possible. 'The people who’ve used Glass, including myself, report it as remarkable. I’d like to let it get a little bit farther off a runway before we characterize it in the obvious ways,' Schmidt said. Business owners have been unimpressed. Peter Feinstein, managing partner of Sapphire Gentlemen's Club in Las Vegas, said that patrons will be asked to check the eyewear when they come in. He said: ‘We've been dealing with the cellphone videoing and the picture taking over the years and we are quick to make sure that that doesn't happen in the club. ‘As the sale of (Google Glass) spreads, there'll be more people using them and wanting to use them at places such as a gentlemen's club. ‘If we see those in the club, we would do the same thing that we do to people who bring cameras into the club. Google has released a series of images showing off the glasses being used to capture video . The glasses will also be able to take part in live video chats . ‘If they don't want to check it, we'd be happy to give them a limo ride back to their hotel’. A spokesman for MGM resorts, which owns the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, said that picture-taking was ‘frowned upon’ inside its properties. He said: ‘Security officers on duty ask individuals not to take pictures for the privacy of others in the casino. ‘This new product is nothing new in terms of a challenge for us, because for so many years, the very tiniest of portable lipstick and pinpoint cameras have been around.’ Regal Entertainment Group, one of the . largest cinema chains in the US, added that no recording devices were . permitted into its cinemas. The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino is one of the first to ban Google Glass . With . a quiet wink of an eye Google Glass users will now be able to take a . picture thanks to one of many new apps released and currently in . development for the device. Snap! A new app for Google Glass called Winky allows users to take pictures with the blink of an eye . Ordinarily Glass users must deliver an audible command of, 'OK, Glass, Take a picture,' to kick in the camera's software. However with its release this week program Winky will additionally give users the option of silently ordering the command. 'You . might not think it's hard to say "Ok, Glass Take a Picture" or even . just tap a button. But it's a context switch that takes you out of the . moment, even if just for a second,' Winky's developer Mike DiGiovanni . from Roundarch Isobar explained on his Google+ page on Wednesday. 'I've . taken more pictures today than I have the past 5 days thanks to this,' he continued. 'Sure, they are mostly silly, but my timeline has now . truly become a timeline of where I've been.' However . while pirating images of subjects in public may be one use for the . device, speaking like one will not be allowed, as Geek.com has revealed. Google's . voice translation technology censors curse words, prohibiting its user . from for instance sending a voice-written email containing an . explicative. Currently . there is said to be no way to disable to filter, which would work . similar to Google's SafeSearch option, the website reports.
computer is set to go on sale to the public next time it launches. Today legal experts warned of a strip clubs, cinemas and casinos because their . the first to explicitly ban Glass, launching a campaign to warn customers months before the of subjects in public may be one use for the .