OK Glass, I see you.

The technological love-child of a smartphone and glasses with a bit of “Star Trek” mixed in, Google’s Glass is the pinnacle of possibly-before-its-time, always connected, wearable technology.

Its role in society and our lives is not quite clear yet, but it sure is cool. It is on the faces of thousands of select Glass Explorers right now, one of whom was generous enough to let me try it out for a bit.

Packed in a frame not much larger than bulky sunglasses, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-enabled device feels like wearing a pair of glasses. The side unit, which includes essentially every important part of Glass, sits comfortably on the ear, despite its size.

Using Glass is surprisingly natural, after a couple minutes of adjustment time. Even when the display is on and active, the screen is in my vision if I want it to be and was easy to ignore. Google describes the view as looking at a 25-inch TV floating eight feet away, and that’s about right. The speaker behind the right ear works well, but the touch panel menu takes a bit of use to adjust to.

The self-consciousness of using voice commands does go away, eventually. Triggering commands by saying “OK Glass,” I was able to reply to an incoming text, take a picture and search the Web. Still, voice control was not as fluid and natural as it could be. Asking for “images” works fine, but “pictures” does not.

The camera likely will provide the most use for consumers. Given the popularity of Go Pro cameras and first person video, there is enormous potential. Google’s original demo famously featured skydivers recording with Glass, but any parent sick of watching a dance recital through a phone will love the concept.

The most impressive feature right now is something long taken for granted: navigation. The screen shows a display similar to Google Maps on a smartphone, but the utility and ease that the map adjusts to your position and direction you face is simple, and brilliant.

There is an urge to actively use Glass constantly, but it excels when it passively sits on your head. Posting texts and calendar alerts via Google Now and breaking news alerts from news apps are all natural uses of the technology. The times when I felt slightly disappointed with Glass were when I was searching for a reason to use it. The future of Glass will depend largely on what apps are developed.