It is strange to imagine what our world would be like without glass. And yet, many of us cannot see much use for the material beyond merely allowing us to see outside and drink beverages in a practical and attractive manner. However, things are changing and the scope for glass is now greater than ever. Currently, certain companies are developing glass that refracts light in different ways to ensure that, whilst still transparent, when light hits it at a certain angle, a shadow is cast in the shape of a particular image. In turn, windows will suddenly not just be functional, but also very decorative at the same time.
Meanwhile, in Asia, the first prototype for a glasses phone has just been realised, making the entire phone see through, and transparent technology very much a reality.
However, where glasses is currently making the most interesting advancements is in the arena of privacy glasses. This form of glass may well eventually remove the need for walls, allowing individuals to fabricate entire buildings just from glass. Whilst in the past this would have been very useful at times, but remove any privacy one might sometimes need, this type of magic glass can change from transparent to opaque at the touch of a button, meaning that any building can be far more attractive and far more versatile through its use.
There seems to be almost no limit to what we can now do with glass and from creating buildings that can be altered to suit any purpose to windows that can be art in themselves, the future is looking very bright for glass. Unless you want it to be opaque, of course.