Project Glass. Is this the future?

[Nyll Bergbahn]

Google's new Project Glass is hitting the headlines lately.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/clear-glass-leaders-googles-wearable-computing-breakthrough-explain-it-all-for-you/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406437,00.asp

Lots of other links on Google (of course!)

A writer in my favourite PC magazine describes it as a cross between virtual reality, augmented reality and Google Maps.

There are many concerns about them too, one being privacy.

http://nextpremise.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/thoughts-on-googles-project-glass/

The porn industry is also interested.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/46313/google-project-glass-porn-movies

So, is this the future of wearable computing or just the next 'must have now' gadget that will fade in time?

[Storm Clarence]

It is my understanding that this is a beta version for developers or future developers of apps for the glasses.

My biggest issue is the cost of entry $1500USD is way out of line for a pair of glasses that will only lend itself to an increase in highway deaths.  

 

[lucagrabacr]

I've been following the project since its early days (well, since Google announced it to the public)

 

I'm quite sure this thing's probably gonnb be one of the near future's "must have" stuff, just like the currently booming gadgets (iPhone, iPad, etc).

 

[Irene Muni]

---

Nyll Bergbahn wrote:

 

So, is this the future of wearable computing or just the next 'must have now' gadget that will fade in time?

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Actually nobody knows what's the future and what is "I must have it because all have" LOL

In any case I think that project can be interesting for some siciences.

[Pussycat Catnap]

The demo from Google just looked like some geeks filming themselves live.

- News crews have been doing that for decades, so I was underimpressed.

 

[Perrie Juran]

This reminds me a bit of Virtual Boy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy

 Will these run into the same trouble Virtual Boy ran into with photosensitive epilepsy?  http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/aboutepilepsy/whatisepilepsy/triggers/photosensitiveepilepsy

just some random thought s here

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

Didn't they have some kind of silly glasses like this back in the early 90's?Remember how well those went over? Oh you don't remember them at all?

For some reason, VR never took up as well as one would imagine. Reason is - people think their mundane boring daily lives are interesting to others.

 

Someone mentioned highway deaths -

Yeah some people who have no regard for being safe on the roads - However will they text, update FB, twitter, drink a beer, roll another joint, change the radio station, eat, AND wear these things? Oh and something silly like "paying attention on the road. What you can hope is that this same idiot is not behind you at a stoplight (when in town)

 

Privacy - big companies will try ANYthing, anything to get even more info about people. They could have your life story as God knows it, have your complete DNA programming, know every thought you have ever had, and your whereabouts at every minute of your life and it STILL would not be enough for them.

[Ceka Cianci]

i don't like wearing any kind of glasses as it is..i get headaches..

just get to the holograms that walk around my house already..how long must we wait for those?

i mean they were in the movies years and years ago..we know you got'em..now give'em \o/

i want mine to walk around my house looking like me while i'm not here..something my husband would truly love i'm sure  LOL

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Perrie Juran wrote:

This reminds me a bit of Virtual Boy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy

 Will these run into the same trouble Virtual Boy ran into with photosensitive epilepsy? 

http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/aboutepilepsy/whatisepilepsy/triggers/photosensitiveepilepsy

just some random thought s here

---

I think the overlayed field (at the top of your field of vision) is too small to be a big concern for triggering. My concern is distraction. I can't imagine enjoying a conversation with someone who's not quite with me.

I have an iPad, which is distracting but allows me to find things to share with people around me. Google Glasses eliminate that potential for sharing, and so I (until shown otherwise) will wonder if they aren't just another way to isolate oneself. They also eliminate or alter the visual cues we get from people using phones and iPads that tell us they're busy doing something else. Maybe we'll get past the awkwardness of seeing people looking at (to us) imaginary things, but I think that's an awkwardness nature selected us to recognize.

I'm not prone to dystopian fantasizing, but imagine a world full of introverted intellectuals with barely a foot in RL while they "connect" virtually. The saving grace of those glasses, the camera (which views RL), is also a potential privacy concern. If I find myself in a conversation with someone wearing these glasses, I believe I'll ask them to remove 'em.

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

Yeah glasses tend to give me headaches too, bites cause i have a nice pair of GUESS sunglasses that i cannot even wear. So what if they are not expensive...

 

With most technology or stuff that comes out - Most of it is a re-incarnation of something they had 20 or 30 years ago but it never took off back then either. That gives us just about 5 more years until they have talking cars. Not just GPS but the car will talk. Mine keeps saying "Kill me" We should soon have physical robots and fancy gloves again that will help us play video games.

 

Reason so many technologies fail is cause in the ads, they look cool and easy to use. But you try to use it in real life and it is sometimes cumbersome, unreliable, too expensive, or takes batteries which means constant replace or recharge.

 

Oh for you kids under 25, yes we once DID have a robot and wearable glove with Nintendo. Look it up if you want (Nintendo ROB/Power glove). They looked cool in the ad but they were junk. Totally.

[Ceka Cianci]

what is even wilder is they are working on contact lenses that can do things like this..and your fingertips have things in them that can be used as a mouse and type on a keyboard and all kinds of scary stuff like that..and rings for your fingers and things for your ears for storage and all kinds of crazy walking human computer stuffs.. bleh!! \o/

 

when they get the Ibrain..i'm done with all this crap and heading to the hills  LOL

[Storm Clarence]

I can see these glasses as an outstanding tool for the visually impaired.  Cameras snapping away--giving audio alerts to obstructions, dangers; street crossings, the store name of which you are passing;  cues to taxi cabs in the area... the list goes on.  A virtual visual reconnaissance of the surroundings.  Literally eyes in back of their heads as well as the front. 

[Nyll Bergbahn]

That would be a brilliant use of this technology Storm. I hope Google will look at that aspect.

[VRprofessor]

Of course the hot new tech will get lots of attention and a the kids who always have the cool new toys will have them.  But whether they catch on or not will depend on what they actually allow you to do.

It would be cool if they found some useful applications.  Maybe something in science education?  Surgery?  Inspection of bridges?  Those would be great. 

All I can imagine is specialty apps that won't result in widespread usage.  But I have a stunted imagination.

[Bree Giffen]

I sort of came to the conclusion that the google glasses are the future about a couple of months ago. When I look at my internet usage, I was and still am connecting to the internet on a computer at home or at work. Then, I got a smartphone and had the internet at my fingertips wherever I went. However, the major failing of smartphones is that it's too small to look at. I see people all the time, looking down into the tiny display. I switched to a 7" tablet for greater readability yet the same problem exists in that you are holding a tablet and looking at it. What's the next evolution of the tablet? It's either going to remain the same, like the iPad, where you are using a tablet or it's going to be like the MS Surface which is moving the tablet once more to the notebook. There's no further evolution there.

With project Glass there is an evolution. I honestly could care less about the social aspect. It's the form-factor that intrigues me. You don't need to hold anything and look down at a screen. The glasses are always there and always readily available. It's like having your tablet, pressed to your face, always on. I still think it looks dorky but I see that in being evolutionary, the glasses have a long path of development. What is on the long road of development for the iPad... lighter? A keyboard? 3D support? Honestly, it will probably turn into a little paper shaped origami computer you can fold up and put in your pocket. That's the final iPad. But the glasses, that's the beginning of the virtual HUD that all of us use all the time in SL, and it so many games and media that want to seem futuristic. We'll see augmented reality where you can hold out your hand and a virtual iPad will appear and you can read on it. Or, your loved one will be standing right next to you in your virtual sight. There's just so much possibility.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

I think its very much the future, if not this particular product,something very like it.

The first calculators were the size of a book and cost about the same as a high end computer does now.. Now for a few bucks you can get a calculator the size of a credit card at the drugstore.  But even that is obsolete now.

Remember the first desktops didn't have hard drives, just big floppy discs, They were bulky and heavy and had limited uses. Now we carry around small smart phones or tablet that are a thousand times more sophisticated than those early desktops yet cost a LOT less. And for those things that just can't be done yet on a tablet or smart phone, laptops thinner than a paperback book that weigh hardly anything.  Even the desktops for power users have greatly improved, with what used to take up almost a whole room compacted and a monitor that was as big as an analog TV, as thin as a picture on the wall.

The first cell phones were like oversized bricks and weighed about the same.  Now phones have gotten so small they can't be much smaller and still have useable keypads. 

The same thing will happen here. The technology will improve and the hardware will miniaturize until you can't feel them when worn and they are noticeable at all.  They will probably get to the point that they integrate phones, computers and maybe even take the place of screens we use for TV and movies.

Whether it will be a good thing or not will be up to how people use them and how they are used.  How much they invade privacy will depend on how much privacy people demand. At the rate we are giving it up now, I doubt that is going to be a big obstacle.

[WADE1 Jya]

I think this will be a semi-successful product. not a total failure like 'virtual boy' but kinda meh won't be super popular because only appeal to a niche kind of person. being kinda awkward & borgish it will probably be about as popular as those bluetooth headsets, you'll see some people really liking it walking around sporting it, but never a big hit like more fashion conscious Apple stuff goes everywhere.

[Ceka Cianci]

Virtualboy?

i think my dad had one of those..is that the big red nightvision looking thing that you could wear and play tank wireframe things?

my little brother broke that years ago and didn't even get in trouble lol