The Google Glass project stirred quite some waves when Google first announced it back in June, and the company is still considering the product's best functionality.

More than half a year later, the search giant is still deliberating on how to best use the platform. Google seems to be cranking things up full gear to get Google Glass ready for consumption.

In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Google Glass project chief Babak Parviz said that his team is still trying out new ideas, but both the software and hardware development is progressing.

"We constantly try out new ideas of how this platform can be used," Parviz told IEEE Spectrum. "We're also trying to make the platform more robust. This includes making the hardware more robust and the software more robust, so we can ship it to developers early this year."

Google first unveiled its titanium-framed glasses back in June, during its annual Google I/O conference. The wearable headgear sported video and audio capability, as well as a built-in compass and accelerometer, and users could control it through head movements.

Now, Parviz has followed up with some insight on what Google has been working on since then. According to him, the gadget currently has a touch pad for changing settings and the company is also experimenting with voice commands. Moreover, the team is also working on improving the glasses with a phone call feature and increasing battery performance to last an entire day.

For now, Google doesn't plan to display advertising on the device, accoording to Parviz. Meanwhile, it also remains unclear whether the glasses will feature incorporated apps or some other kind of functionality.

"This is a complicated thing," explained Parviz. "This is not a laptop or a smartphone. It's an entirely new platform. So how people will interact with it and what people do with it is totally new territory. But we hope that when we ship this to developers, other people will also figure out what this very powerful platform is able to do."

While Google Glass will likely not be available to consumers until 2014, the company said that a select group of developers will be able to purchase the "Explorer" edition of the device in early 2013 for a $1,500 price tag. When it finally comes out, the consumer version will likely be more affordable.