Remember Google's futuristic Project Glass augmented reality eyewear, and how you could plunk down $1,500 at the Google I/O conference last June to secure an early pair? Now, after months of radio silence, those developers who pre-ordered the so-called Project Glass Explorer Edition are getting invited to New York and San Francisco to finally try out the kit.

The events will take place on January 28th and 29th in San Francisco, and February 1st and 2nd in New York; both are hackathons, so attendees can primarily expect to play around with the Project Glass API (dubbed "Mirror") and write some code. Here's the full text of the invitation we received via a tipster this afternoon:

Join us for an early look at Glass and two full days of hacking on the upcoming Google Mirror API in San Francisco or New York. These hackathons are just for developers in the Explorer program and we're calling them the Glass Foundry. It's the first opportunity for a group of developers to get together and develop for Glass. We'll begin the first day with an introduction to Glass. You'll have a device to use while on-site. Next we'll take a look at the Mirror API, which gives you the ability to exchange data and interact with the user over REST. We'll then dive into development with Google engineers on site to help you at any point. At the end of the second day we'll have a lively round of demos with some special guest judges. There is limited space. If you are accepted, you will receive a confirmation letter with additional details and terms after registration closes. Please don't make any travel arrangements until your attendance is confirmed.

With augmented reality and virtual reality back to back in such a short span, it feels like the future is coming fast.