Google, the tech industry super-giant, unveiled its newest
creation, dubbed “Project Glass” – augmented reality glasses that will allow
the individual to do away with other portable devices. These glasses will take the place of all of
your other devices – cell phone, iPod – and bring the information straight
before your eyes. The official video
revealed such features as Google Maps, a Facebook App, and speech-to-text
recognition. Watch here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4
It has also been leaked that the glasses will go for
anywhere between $250 and $600.
What do you guys think of Google’s newest project? Are these
glasses going to be practical, or just an expensive futuristic Bluetooth? Will
fashion trump function, and these glasses get kicked to the curb?
8 comments:
With all these advances in our technology, it seems very likely that this will become a new big item. Many people doubted the practicality of the iPad, but if you look at it's sales today, it is still one of the leading products on the market. With new technological innovations, everyone wants to own the newest thing. I believe this product will be fairly successful because of this ideology that many citizens have regarding new products.
I don't think that this is the best idea. Personally, I am losing my desire to watch movies in 3-D because wearing the glasses is a bit disorienting and annoying in general. Put that onto a pair that acts like a computer and I think that would be one really bad experience. Also, won't the images be incredibly distracting? In that youtube video it shows a guy walking down the street. What would happen if the images came up right as he was crossing? He would definitely give the majority of his attention to what is displayed on the "screen." Now put that man in a car driving with those things on. The next generation of bad things to do while driving (like texting). I don't know, i theory this may have been a great idea, but in practice, I'm not so sure this will be such a great thing.
I am very doubtful of whether these new glasses will be the next iPad because as Patrick pointed out, there are many dangers and concerns that come with the glasses. For example, if someone is driving and is looking for directions, it is dangerous to them to take his or her focus off of the road. Also, the glasses can take pictures without the thing or person being taken knowing. This can be bad on so many levels. Basically, these glasses will either be hugely successful or a complete flop. Google probably still has many kinks that it needs to deal with and the video that was released is what Google aspires the glasses to be.
I would agree with Dustan and Patrick in their concerns about the safety of the glasses. If their concerns have any grounds in reality, I imagine there will be a minor crisis in legislation attempting to keep people safe from themselves (if they're wearing glasses). I have no idea how one would begin to regulate the usage of these glasses, especially if they looked just like normal glasses. If authorities are concerned about the dangers of texting while driving, imagine the horror of a freeway filled with people watching movies while driving. I honestly do not believe that these will be feasible as a new, revolutionary, technologically advanced lifestyle.
However, as recreation for the middle class and above? Sure.
Even so, this sounds eerily like a social apocalypse. If these do become the next phenomenon, I do hope people don't forget that life is beautiful even when not distorted by "Project Glass."
I also believe that the new glasses can become a great safety hazard mainly while driving on the road and would be hard to regulate if people are using them while driving if they look like normal glasses. These glasses are a great innovation in technology and would make our lives easier. These glasses should be very popular but depending on the price range of the glasses and who can afford them.
I agree that these "Project Glass" will cause a great number of safety issues. With the virtual images appearing in such a way that it blocks out all other images, it is highly probable that the virtual images lead to physical damage. This limits the practicality of these glasses as people will only be able to use it as often as they would a phone. Why use something that impairs your vision when you can get a cheaper alternative that will serve its purpose just as well? While people may say that these glasses are more hi-tech than current phones, I wonder how many people will be willing to pay double the price since most people probably won't use half the features. As novel as "Project Glass" is, I doubt it will be enough to make it a permanent item in today's society.
"Project Glass" appears overly ambitious, but might just work with a simple execution. While I concede that there are dangers with distractions in one's field of view, I really admire the minimalistic approach, and hope that with proper precautions, it can become a safe tool to use (for example, use vision processing to limit distractions if the camera sees a steering wheel or windshield).
My main concern is actually with privacy. Though it seems extremely useful for connecting with friends, having strangers know my name by simply looking at me seems a scary thought. There will need to be plenty of settings to configure, and like Dustan said, lots of kinks to iron out before Google can turn these into a real product. That said, I hope that when they do, they keep it sweet and simple. This truly is a great step for technology.
Echoing previous comments, I think safety, practicality, and consumer appeal seem to limit the success of Project Glass. Wearing these glasses that cause virtual images to appear before one's eyes does not seem to be particularly safe unless only wearing them while sitting at home on the couch, which limits practicality. Also, I'm not sure how eager people will be to wear these glasses and how aesthetically pleasing they will be. That being said, the success of other inventions, such as the iPad, has been doubted but has turned out to surpass expectations, so perhaps Project Glass will be extremely successful.
Post a Comment