Google has yet to release Glass to the public, but many developers are already hacking away with the Glass Mirror API.

Earlier this year, Google held hackathons for developers to try out Glass and explore additional ways to use the device.

Business Insider spoke with two developers who participated in the Google Glass Foundry hackathon, and have already created a few apps available for use right now.

But Google has made it quite clear that developers can't charge for their apps, or include any advertisements. So if developers can't make any money from the apps they create, what's driving them to build Glassware?

"We want something that is going to excite people," Michael DiGiovanni, developer of the Glass app that lets you take a picture with a wink, told Business Insider. "If you excite people, that helps in your career. Even if you can’t initially monetize it, we want to be at the forefront of new technology."

Another developer, Jonathan Gottfried of Twilio, says a lot of developers are trying to satisfy utilitarian needs. But the unifying factor is that they're taking advantage of being first to market.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Glass apps are an entirely different beast when it comes to ownership.

"In a mobile app, you're downloading the app, but with Glass, it's more like you're just logging in to someone's application and authorizing it," Jonathan Gottfried, a Glass developer and developer evangelist at Twilio, tells Business Insider. "So it's a little different fo an ownership model because you don't have the actual app on your device. You've simply authorized an app to interact with your device. So I think there will be time-based and usage-based models, rather than simply buying an app."