Google Glass Code Lets You Snap a Photo with a Wink

The next Google Glass owner who winks at you may actually be taking your picture The next Google Glass owner who winks at you may actually be taking your picture.

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Hands-on with Google Glass

The next Google Glass owner who winks at you may actually be taking your picture.

New code cooked up by Google Glass developer Mike DiGiovanni enables the wink gesture in the high-tech specs.

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Mike DiGiovanni/Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Dubbed Winky, the feature can even be used to snap a photo when the screen is turned off. As a result, Winky eliminates the need to issue a voice command or tap a button to take a picture.

Google Glass users who want to try out a few winks will need some development skills of their own.

DiGiovanni has released Winky as pure Android source code, according to his Google+ post, which means it needs to be compiled and run as an APK (application package file). The current Google Glass Explorer Edition is geared toward developers, so DiGiovanni figures that most of them will know how to do this.

Google Glass owners can download the source code through DiGiovanni's GitHub site. After creating and running the APK, Glass users need only calibrate and then activate Winky to start winking away.

DiGiovanni's code taps into a wink option spotted recently by Reddit user fodawim in the MyGlass companion app for Google Glass.

Developers and other pioneers have been able to snag the Google Glass Explorer Edition by shelling out $1,500. A version for regular consumers is slated to launch sometime next year, with the price tag expected to be lower.

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