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Is this the end of Google Glass? Some early believers think so.

Many deemed Google Glass to be the future of wearable technology. But it's quickly losing popularity. Most developers have abandoned their attempts to develop apps for the devices, and even Google has indicated it has lost interest. Is this the end of Google Glass?

After two years of popping up at high-profile events sporting Google聽Glass, the gadget that transforms eyeglasses into聽spy-movie worthy聽technology, Google co-founder聽Sergey Brinsauntered bare-faced into a Silicon Valley red-carpet event on Sunday.

He'd left his pair in the car, Brin told a reporter. The Googler, who heads up the top-secret lab which developedGlass, has hardly given up on the product -- he recently wore his pair to the beach.

But Brin's timing is not propitious, coming as many developers and early聽Glass聽users are losing interest in the much-hyped, $1,500 test version of the product: a camera, processor and stamp-sized computer screen mounted to the edge of eyeglass frames. Google Inc itself has pushed back the聽Glass聽roll out to the mass market.

While聽Glass聽may find some specialized, even lucrative, uses in the workplace, its prospects of becoming a consumer hit in the near future are slim, many developers say.

Of 16聽Glass聽app makers contacted by Reuters, nine said that they had stopped work on their projects or abandoned them, mostly because of the lack of customers or limitations of the device. Three more have switched to developing for business, leaving behind consumer projects.

Plenty of larger developers remain with聽Glass. The nearly 100 apps on the official web site include Facebook andOpenTable, although one major player recently defected: Twitter.

"If there was 200 million Google Glasses sold, it would be a different perspective. There's no market at this point," said聽Tom Frencel, the Chief Executive of聽Little Guy Games, which put development of a聽Glass聽game on hold this year and is looking at other platforms, including the Facebook Inc-owned virtual-reality goggles Oculus Rift.

Several key Google employees instrumental to developing聽Glass聽have left the company in the last six months, including lead developer聽Babak Parviz, electrical engineering chief Adrian Wong, and Ossama Alami, director of developer relations.

And a聽Glass聽funding consortium created by聽Google Ventures聽and two of Silicon Valley's biggest venture capitalists, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz, quietly deleted its website, routing users to the mainGlass聽site.

Google insists it is committed to聽Glass, with hundreds of engineers and executives working on it, as well as new fashionista boss聽Ivy Ross, a former Calvin Klein executive. Tens of thousands use聽Glass聽in the pilot consumer program.

"We are completely energized and as energized as ever about the opportunity that wearables and聽Glass聽in particular represent," said聽Glass聽Head of Business Operations Chris O'Neill.

Glass聽was the first project to emerge from Google's X division, the secretive group tasked with developing "moonshot" products such as self-driving cars.聽Glass聽and wearable devices overall amount to a new聽technology, as聽smartphones聽once were, that will likely take time to evolve into a product that clicks with consumers.

"We are as committed as ever to a consumer launch. That is going to take time and we are not going to launch this product until it's absolutely ready," O'Neill said.

Brin had predicted a launch this year, but 2015 is now the most likely date, a person familiar with the matter said.

After an initial burst of enthusiasm, signs that consumers are giving up on聽Glass聽have been building.

Google dubbed the first set of several thousand聽Glass聽users as "Explorers." But as the Explorers hit the streets, they drew stares and jokes. Some people viewed the device, capable of surreptitious video recording, as an obnoxious privacy intrusion, deriding the once-proud Explorers as "Glassholes."

"It looks super nerdy," said聽Shevetank Shah, a Washington, DC-based consultant, whose Google聽Glass聽now gathers dust in a drawer. "I'm a card carrying nerd, but this was one card too many."

Glass聽now sells on eBay for as little as half list price.

Some developers recently have felt unsupported by investors and, at times, Google itself.

The聽Glass聽Collective, the funding consortium co-run by聽Google Ventures, invested in only three or four small start-ups by the beginning of this year, a person familiar with the statistics said.

A聽Google Ventures聽spokeswoman declined to comment on the number of investments and said the Web site was closed for simplicity. "We just found it's easier for entrepreneurs to come to us directly," she said.

The lack of a launch date has given some developers the impression that Google still treats聽Glass聽as an experiment.

"It's not a big enough platform to play on seriously," said聽Matthew Milan, founder of聽Toronto-based software firm Normative Design, which put on hold a聽Glass聽app for logging exercise and biking.

Mobile game company聽Glu Mobile, known for its popular "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood" title, was one of the first to launch a game on聽Glass. Spellista, a puzzler released a year ago, is still available, but Glu has discontinued work on it, a spokesman for the company said.

Another developer,聽Sean McCracken, won $10,000 in a contest last year for creating an aliens-themed video game for聽Glass, Psyclops, but Google never put it on the official hub for聽Glass聽apps, making it tougher to find. He has quit working on updates.

Still, there are some enthusiastic developers. Cycling and running app Strava finds聽Glass聽well-suited for its users, who want real-time data on their workouts, said聽David Lorsch, vice president of business development. And entrepreneur Jake Steinerman said it is ideal for his company,聽DriveSafe, which detects if people are falling asleep at the wheel.

In April, Google launched the聽Glass聽at Work program to help make the device useful for specific industries, such as healthcare and manufacturing. So far the effort has resulted in apps that are being tested or used at companies such as Boeing and Yum Brands' Taco Bell.

Google is selling聽Glass聽in bulk to some businesses, offering two-for-one discounts.

CrowdOptic, which uses聽Glass聽as portable computers for surgeons and other people out of offices, is currently in use at 19 U.S. hospitals and expects that to grow to 100 hospitals early next year, said Chief Executive聽Jon Fisher.

Alex Foster聽began See Through, a聽Glass聽advertising analytics firm for business, after a venture firm earlier this year withdrew its offer to back his consumer-oriented聽Glass聽fitness company when it became clear no big consumerGlass聽release was imminent.

"It was devastating," he said. "All of the consumer聽glass聽startups are either completely dead or have pivoted," to enterprise products or rival wearables.