Google Changed Glass’s Name to a Migraine Symptom

By Laura Entis | Sep 17, 2015
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Remember Google Glass? Back in 2013 and early 2014 the face wearable was seemingly everywhere, as early adopters (‘explorers’ in Google lingo, and ‘glassholes’ to most others) routinely made headlines for various .

After a stubbornly chilly reception from consumers, in February Google announced that it was rolling back the program. Google Glass went quiet.

But it didn’t die. There were some rumblings (most notably a low-key update of the device’s enterprise version), and now there’s a major new sign of life. , Google Glass just got a new name. Say goodbye to Google Glass, and say hello to Project Aura.

Related: This Is Where Google Says Glass Went All Wrong

While the decision to rebrand the beleaguered Google Glass is sensible, the name itself feels less so. True, Google is in the practice of assigning fancy titles to its most ambitious projects (a roster that includes Project Loon and Project Ara). But, was it really the best decision to rename Google Glass – – after a migraine symptom?

Google hasn’t officially announced the name-change, so no word yet as to why Aura was selected.

Luckily, Google Glass didn’t just get a new name. According to the WSJ, the project also scored some new hires, including three engineers from Amazon’s shuttered research division and a former Apple engineer.

Related: Glass to Exit Google X, Report to Nest’s Tony Fadell

Remember Google Glass? Back in 2013 and early 2014 the face wearable was seemingly everywhere, as early adopters (‘explorers’ in Google lingo, and ‘glassholes’ to most others) routinely made headlines for various .

After a stubbornly chilly reception from consumers, in February Google announced that it was rolling back the program. Google Glass went quiet.

But it didn’t die. There were some rumblings (most notably a low-key update of the device’s enterprise version), and now there’s a major new sign of life. , Google Glass just got a new name. Say goodbye to Google Glass, and say hello to Project Aura.

Related: This Is Where Google Says Glass Went All Wrong

While the decision to rebrand the beleaguered Google Glass is sensible, the name itself feels less so. True, Google is in the practice of assigning fancy titles to its most ambitious projects (a roster that includes Project Loon and Project Ara). But, was it really the best decision to rename Google Glass – – after a migraine symptom?

Google hasn’t officially announced the name-change, so no word yet as to why Aura was selected.

Luckily, Google Glass didn’t just get a new name. According to the WSJ, the project also scored some new hires, including three engineers from Amazon’s shuttered research division and a former Apple engineer.

Related: Glass to Exit Google X, Report to Nest’s Tony Fadell

Laura Entis is a reporter for Fortune.com's Venture section.
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