Project Glass

There was an article about this in mX yesterday (everything’s in mX) that HG and I scoffed and giggled about on our horrific train ride home. We disregarded it to be anything but fantasy, and as such paid it little attention.

Waking up this morning I found this article  and had to consider what it meant.

Take a moment to watch the video and think about the ramifications of this new tech.

First thing that springs to my mind is that if this replaces the mobile phone, to get proper use out of it, you would have to wear it all the time. Imagine waking up and putting on a pair of glasses so you can check texts, missed calls, email, social networking and general internet browsing. And as it all seems to be voice command, how good is the software? (If Apple’s Siri has taught us anything it’s that voice recognition software is a little hard of hearing). I get up quite early, and before my partner. To use these Google Glasses to check what I need to, would I have to wake him up by yelling, or talking like a robot?

Secondly, as the article points out, are they available in prescription? I’m probably a special case, but let’s just take me as an example to cover most bases. I have both reading and distance prescriptions. Would I be able to get a bifocal pair, or would I need two sets? Would the glasses fit over regular ones if a prescription is unachievable? Or do I just miss out?
I also need to wear sunglasses when I’m outside due to slightly larger pupils. Are the Google Glasses able to be fitted with transition lenses? Or can there be a special polarised pair? Would this mean, once again, that I need to own multiple sets? Or could one cover all of my requirements?

I also query the appropriateness of when the information appears. The video makes it unclear as to whether the entirety of the accessible information is controlled by the user, or if the Glasses pre-empt what you need and when. How terrifying it would be to have a map or text or check in point appear as you’re crossing a busy highway! Or if, after removing them for a while to complete another task, you are inundated with information?

Other obvious questions are:
How heavy will they be?
What’s the battery life?
Storage capabilities?
Efficiency?
Will they make me look good?

I guess they might! These people are wearing the Google Glasses and look at them! Aren't they just super sexy and all black and white?

Though this pretty much says it all!

BUT ALL THAT BEING SAID…

Once again we’re looking at a more integrated world. After the bizarre Nokia Tattoo a few weeks ago, Project Glass seems to confirm we’re heading for integration. Ok, so the Glasses are removable, and there’ll be far more issues with them than benefits at first. But remember, mobile phones started out as virtual bricks with the only difference to a land line being that you could call on the go, and yet here I am, decades later, typing this post, finding and reading relevant supporting articles and publishing it all from my mobile!

We shouldn’t be looking at Project Glass for what it means RIGHT NOW but rather what it will mean in 20 years time.

This article (whilst being more of a hopeful optimism than anything actually relevant) does suggest that Apple, as a leading hardware company, could effectively compete with Project Glass and possibly overtake Google in the eye-glass computing market. And who knows where that could eventually lead? Perhaps my Apple brand integrated holographic software is not such a far flung idea after all?