One pair of Explorer Edition Google Glass: $1,500.

A chance to help drive the innovative project's cutting edge development: Priceless.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has a special treat for attendees at the search giant's 2012 I/O conference Wednesday in San Francisco.

During the keynote, Brin announced that special pairs of "Explorer Edition" Google "glasses" could be ordered exclusively at the conference by U.S. developers looking to be on the "leading edge" of refining the wearable computer.

"This is a really new technology, and we want you to help shape it. That's why we want to get it out into the hands of passionate people as soon as possible," Brin said.

While specifics remained vague, Brin indicated that the special edition glasses will have potential beyond video capture, which was highlighted in a video immediately preceding the announcement.

An Associated Press piece about the prototype described functions similar to those seen in the promotional video for the glasses, which was released in April. This included photo sharing, video chat, shopping, and line-of-sight direction display.

The developer versions are not meant for commercial consumption, won't ship until "early next year" and carry a $1,500 price tag. For some, that might seem like a tall order, but for developers, it's might be worth it to get their hands on these beauties.

The augmented reality specs are a project of Google X, the team behind the self-driving Google car, and target="_hplink">the space elevator.

Check out the slideshow (below) to see every photo taken of and by a Google Glass prototype (before the I/O conference, that is.)

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  • Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin

    On April 7, Google co-founder Sergey Brin was the first Googler to be spotted in the wild wearing Google Glasses. He wore the futuristic specs to a charity event in San Francisco. Somewhat ironically, the charity at the event was a foundation fighting against blindness, and the event centered around a dinner eaten in total darkness.<br> <br> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/7050489913/in/photostream/lightbox/" target="_hplink">Via Flickr of Photographer Thomas Hawk</a>.

  • Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin

    Here's Brin with technology journalist Robert Scoble at the same event. You can <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/sergey-brin-google-glasses_n_1408488.html" target="_hplink">read more about Brin's outing here</a>. <br> <br> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/7050487947/in/photostream" target="_hplink">Via Flickr of photographer Thomas Hawk</a>.

  • A Prototype Of How Google Glasses Might Work With Prescription Glasses

    On April 12, about a week after Brin's public appearance, Google designer Isabelle Olsson allayed the fears of many a prescription glasses-wearing folk <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/1/110625673290805573805/posts/Nmc8LuwFw5M" target="_hplink">with this photo on her Google+ page</a>. The photo depicts "an early mock-up to show how the device might work with prescription glasses," confirming that those who already wear glasses won't miss out on the fun when Google's augmented reality glasses do emerge.

  • Sebastian Thrun On Charlie Rose

    Most of what we know about Google's Glasses experiment has come from engineer Sebastian Thrun, a Project Glass lead engineer and the head engineer in the secretive Google[x] laboratory. On April 25, Thrun talked to the venerable Charlie Rose about the state of Google Glasses, as well as his Google's self-driving car and his disruptive online education startup <a href="http://Udacity.com" target="_hplink">Udacity</a>. <br> <br> The interview contains multitudes of information about possible futures for technology, but if you just want the dirt on Google Glasses, the first three-and-a-half minutes of this video are for you.

  • Sebastian Thrun Takes A Photo of Charlie Rosen While On The Charlie Rose Show

    During the Charlie Rose interview, Thrun snapped this picture of Rose and posted it to his Google+ page -- all while talking, and without lifting a finger. It was the first indication we had that Google's glasses, in their early stages, actually worked.

  • Sebastian Thrun Takes A Photo Of His Son Using His Glasses

    Thrun <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/1/101416274833608453021/posts" target="_hplink">posted this photo</a>, snapped hands-free (obviously) with Google Glasses, to his Google+ page on May 8th.

  • Google+ Head Vic Gundotra

    The same day Thrun posted his whirl-around photo of his son, a couple of Google guys made this photo public: The man in the picture is Vic Gundotra, VP of Social at Google, and the photo was taken by Bradley Horowitz, VP of Product at Google, and <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/1/113116318008017777871/posts/MNBUpT7z3hn" target="_hplink">posted to his Google+ account</a>.

  • Google CEO Larry Page

    Finally, on Tuesday, May 22, <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/1/110804953626559077511/posts" target="_hplink">Google employee Jason Mayes</a> uploaded a few photos of CEO Larry Page to his Google+ profile. Page was speaking at the Google Zeitgeist event in England. Mayes has since taken the photos down, but not before our <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/22/larry-page-google-glasse/?grcc=33333Z98ZtrendingZ0" target="_hplink">buddies at TechCrunch saved the photos themselves</a>. <br> <br> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/22/larry-page-google-glasse/?grcc=33333Z98ZtrendingZ0" target="_hplink">Via TechCrunch</a>.

  • Google CEO Larry Page

    Another image of Page from Jason Mayes. <br> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/22/larry-page-google-glasse/?grcc=33333Z98ZtrendingZ0" target="_hplink">Via TechCrunch</a>.

  • Google CEO Larry Page

    One last look at Larry Page in his company's AR glasses prototype. <br> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/22/larry-page-google-glasse/?grcc=33333Z98ZtrendingZ0" target="_hplink">Via TechCrunch</a>.

  • The Original Google Glasses "Project Glass" Video

    Here's the Google concept video that started it all. Google has said that the video was meant to create excitement about the device and to solicit ideas from commenters about what they would like a pair of augmented reality glasses to do. <br> <br> What you see in the video will not necessarily ship with the final product, in other words. Vic Gundotra <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57434191-94/no-terminator-style-overlays-in-first-batch-of-google-glasses/" target="_hplink">recently reiterated that point in an interview with CNET</a>. <br> <br> Along with that first video, Google also posted a bunch of prototype designs for its Glasses. These aren't the real deal, but we've included them hereafter for your perusal.

  • Google Glasses Prototype Images

    <a href="https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/posts" target="_hplink">Via Project Glass</a>.

  • Google Glasses Prototype Images

    <a href="https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/posts" target="_hplink">Via Project Glass</a>.

  • Google Glasses Prototype Images

    <a href="https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/posts" target="_hplink">Via Project Glass</a>.

  • Google Glasses Prototype Images

    <a href="https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/posts" target="_hplink">Via Project Glass</a>.

  • Google Glasses Prototype Images

    <a href="https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/posts" target="_hplink">Via Project Glass</a>.