With Google finally taking the wraps off its secret "Project Glass" venture, pertaining to wearable computing, on Wednesday, The Verge has recently reported that the augmented reality glasses from the company are already "past the concept phase."

Despite the fact that Google has not - in the pictures and a concept video on its `Project Glass' page - disclosed the cost of the augmented reality glasses, a report in February had cited unnamed `inside' sources to reveal that the glasses will apparently be priced in the range of between $250 to $600. It was also reported that the glasses will likely be available to the public by the end of this year.

Even though there has been no other substantiation of the expected cost of the glasses, the reported timeline for their release has been rebuffed by Wired's Steven Levy who said that Project Glass "is very far from public beta," and added that a 2012-end launch of the glasses currently appears "extremely unlikely."

The prototype glasses unveiled by Google include a small see-through screen, and are capable of displaying maps, clicking pictures, and even initiating video calls. In short, they virtually insert the Internet between the wearer's eyes and the real world!

About the reason behind's Google's decision to give a glimpse of the glasses, the company said in a recent post on its new Google+ page for `Project Glass' that it has shared information about the glasses now "because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input."