Google Glass Developer Contest: $10K From Rackspace?

Attention early Google Glass developers: Rackspace (RAX) is offering a $10,000 prize if you create a killer application for the wearable computing device. Sounds cool — but isn’t it a bit strange for a cloud services provider (CSP) to open its wallet and honor an emerging Android mobile developer? Hmmm…

The contest, promoted by uber blogger and social media wizard Robert Scoble, takes place at TechCrunch Disrupt (Sept. 11, San Francisco). 

According to the contest description:

“6 semi-finalist will be selected to demo their app or device in front of Robert Scoble and a group of judges at TechCrunch Disrupt! To apply, you must provide both a written description and video of your wearable computing application or device.

Semi-finalist will be announced and notified on September 5, 2013 and displayed on www.rackspacestartups.com. The demonstration in front of Robert Scoble and the judges will be on September 11, 2013 and live streamed in the Rackspace booth at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. Contestants are responsible for their own travel to and from the event.”

Whoops. Looks like The VAR Guy won’t have an app together in time for that Sept. 5 semi-finalist round. Instead, our resident blogger is wondering why Rackspace — the CSP and OpenStack advocate — is dabbling in this Google Glass contest.

The simple answer: Publicity. But look beyond that folks. The VAR Guy is convinced that Google Glass will become a popular tool for remote IT support. Once the wearable device is widely available, you can imagine Rackspace hybrid cloud support experts tapping into remote Google Glass systems to “see” what’s going on in a distant data center.

Surely, the potential applications don’t end there. And that’s precisely why Rackspace put aside $10K for this developer contest.