Will it be the next paradigm shift in rapid data access like the smarphone, or will it go the way of the Segway? The answers to "What would I do with Google Glass" so far do not sound groundbreaking. The only cool thing I can think of doing with it is to walk around my apartment and pretend that I am Jean Claude Van Damme. Honesly, the appearance of it as it stands now has the a-hole factor equal to a bluetooth headset five years ago.

I've always wanted to see HUD displays in cars come to masses, with full-time HUD displays in our eyes to follow but this seems... underwhelming

I know that Glass is "old", I didn't find any extensive discussion in other Google-related threads, and figuring out what to actually do with it seems to be new.

2/22/2013 1:10:31 AM

This is dead in the water until they figure out how to make its users not look fucking stupid

2/22/2013 8:30:56 AM

^

2/22/2013 8:58:32 AM

^^ +1

I like where they are going, but damn it looks stupid.

2/22/2013 9:28:18 AM

it's the future...y'all had best just get over that

2/22/2013 10:41:39 AM

The "killer app" is augmented reality. The ability to look at something and have a constellation of contextual information at hand will be awesome.

The aesthetics of the device will improve as they figure out how to integrate the display into standard glasses and contact lenses.

Read the two part series Daemon and Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez to get an idea of how this type of technology can integrate into society.

2/22/2013 10:50:03 AM

^ im not sure if you just posted something obvious or not

2/22/2013 10:54:35 AM

2/22/2013 10:55:56 AM

^nice

Quote :

"This is dead in the water until they figure out how to make its users not look fucking stupid"

I agree with your sentiment, but if it was built into existing "cool" eyewear (which can't be that difficult), would it make it that much more useful than having a smartphone in your pocket. Would you feel normal talking to your glasses? Would it lead to a further information overload, more so than we are already experiencing with smartphone? Does it create privacy issues that have not existed before (if it has on-demand video+audio recording capability, it would be illegal to wear in certain settings)? Would it eventually cause user's reliance on instant information access to be handicapped without it (deteriorated navigational abilities, for example)? Let's hear some opinions, folks.

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 10:58 AM. Reason : .]

2/22/2013 10:57:23 AM

I'm sure you are all familiar with what people look like in social situations with their smartphones, where they have to go into a socially disconnected state to access information, even when they are in a social situation?



Glass will solve this problem for people, where they don't have to literally look away and disengage from people in order to access information, which is now done from a smartphone device.

In regards to information overload, that entirely depends on the user. Will it raise the potential for information overload, yes. However, the user should/could decide the extent of data that streams.

Potential privacy issues is a valid point, but people can and do walk around with cameras and mics, so I don't see any real difference except in implementation. It will more readily available to the populace.

We are already reliant upon information access, see screenshot above. This is merely a more seamless implementation, which adds value. People relying more on technology over time is not a new concept, it's been a problem since the industrial era.

There are pros/cons with any technology. The biggest con being unforeseen consequences.

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 11:10 AM. Reason : -]

2/22/2013 11:10:12 AM

^^^ Well that took an unexpected sinister turn.

2/22/2013 11:11:59 AM

Quote :

"Glass will solve this problem for people, where they don't have to literally look away and disengage from people in order to access information, which is now done from a smartphone device."

As you can see from the fictional, but very probably video above, you can be disengaged from people while looking straight at them, due to extraneous stream of information gathering all or most of your attention. Maybe you won't bump into a pole while texting with Glass, but it certainly will be hard to concentrate on talking to someone with email and text notification streaming into your peripheral view non-stop

2/22/2013 11:36:22 AM

That stream can, and should, be user-controlled. The idea being that the user can throttle the amount of information coming in, so it doesn't have to disengage them, and it will add value to their normal activities. Can it end up as you describe in certain situations? Of course it can. Can it end up as I describe in certain situations? Of course it can. Therein lies the answer of, it depends on the user, and the implementation.

Glass would be wise to throttle back the streaming information by default, and force the user to add more information, giving them a "healthy" starting point of data input. Similar to the Apple approach of "the user doesn't know best."

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 11:43 AM. Reason : -]

2/22/2013 11:38:35 AM

http://www.androidcentral.com/levar-burton-just-won-if-i-had-glass-competition

Quote :

"#ifihadglass It would be a downgrade. -Geordi La Forge"

Haha awesome.

2/22/2013 11:39:50 AM

^ Win.

2/22/2013 11:42:01 AM

This is also [OLD], but here is what the subsidized version of Goggles Glass would look like if they took the Kindle approach

2/22/2013 11:49:36 AM

haha, that's pretty good

just getting adblasted all day.

2/22/2013 12:51:06 PM

http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4013406/i-used-google-glass-its-the-future-with-monthly-updates

2/22/2013 12:54:39 PM

2/22/2013 1:49:18 PM

Do people even wear glasses? A large part of the population wants to get rid of glasses via contacts and lasik. If they did integrate with stylish frames, does that mean all frames would be 1500?

As someone with perfect vision, I have zero interest in wearing glasses.

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 2:44 PM. Reason : Nerd niche product]

2/22/2013 2:43:32 PM

Quote :

"Do people even wear glasses? A large part of the population wants to get rid of glasses via contacts and lasik. If they did integrate with stylish frames, does that mean all frames would be 1500? As someone with perfect vision, I have zero interest in wearing glasses"

You are soooo five years behind the trends. Nowadays people with perfect vision want to buy thuck framed glasses with non-correcting lenses just to add a few IQ point or hipster points or sexy nerd points to their appearance


^^I saw this video, and the functionality of it was reduced to wi-fi enabled GoPro.
Since this is a proof of concept, I wish they would push the boundaries a bit more on this demo video.
I want to see Google Goggles running in Glass, letting me know what's located in a building in an unfamiliar city.
I want to see on-demand facial recognition and social network profile summary for people you know and maybe even don't know
I want on-demand product information and side-by-side comparison via red Laser
I want to be able to reply to email by looking at a message on your computer or phone and then annotating via HUD and dictating the answer through the Glass
I want to see a step-by-step guidance on how to do stuff (preferably with a POV overlay), like how to replace a component in a car engine or on how to tie a bowtie.
And of course I want an ability to rack focus while cock-looking like I can do with the big boy camera equipment like a Canon 5D Mark II and 16-35mm 2.8 EF-L lens

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 3:10 PM. Reason : .]

2/22/2013 3:07:30 PM

^how many people buy fake glasses? I know of no one. I know plenty of people with smart phones.

There is no sizeable market here.

2/22/2013 4:22:53 PM

Quote :

"how many people buy fake glasses?"

2/22/2013 4:44:21 PM

^^i was only half serious about the glasses, not everyone likes to wear them obviously (including myself). But the trend for non-corrective glasses really did pick up in the last couple of years, as tree Twista illustrated. I think eventually Google Glass-type HUD display will be projected either directly onto your retinas or onto the contact lenses like you saw in the fictional video above. There will still be likely to be some communication module, but maybe it will be built into directly into your mobile device. The questions about functionality, ethics etc will still apply.

2/22/2013 5:50:00 PM

5 people is not a trend.

Until normal people start wearing fake glasses, this shit is DOA. The worst tablet will do better than these glasses.

Smartphones are huge because everyone including grandmas have them.

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 9:00 PM. Reason : .]

2/22/2013 8:59:10 PM

For those wondering about the aesthetics of Google Glass's frame and actual physical components, there's been a lot of talk in the last couple of days from NYT and other sources saying that Google has reached out to Warby Parker (a very popular NYC eyewear designer) to work on the appeal of the product.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/technology/google-looks-to-make-its-computer-glasses-stylish.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

2/22/2013 9:25:41 PM

^^ those are not the only 5 people into it, looooots of people are

2/22/2013 9:42:33 PM

When those five are some of the most famous athletes in America, its a trend

2/22/2013 11:52:49 PM

I'm just glad Russell Westbrook's shirts aren't catching on to the masses

Also, that theverge.com article that HaLo posted is really interesting, I wonder what the initial price will be once this is offered to the mainstream public...$499?

ok i guess i was low on the price

http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/02/google-glass-price-and-release-details-reportedly-announced/

tl;dr the current 'beta testers' of the device pay $1,500 for one, the initial price to the general public will probably be $1,000 - $1,200

[Edited on February 23, 2013 at 12:23 AM. Reason : .]

2/23/2013 12:12:19 AM

Quote :

"Until normal people start wearing fake glasses, this shit is DOA. The worst tablet will do better than these glasses. Smartphones are huge because everyone including grandmas have them."

Like I said, I agree that the current design looks a bit awkward. But your comparison with tablets actually reminded me how people thought tablets were an awkward and redundant device just a few years ago, and look at the tablet market now

2/23/2013 12:36:36 AM

Honestly, I think the having to wear "glasses" part is less of an issue for the device than the fact that so far it appears you need their "glasses" and it can't be integrated with existing prescription glasses. People can be convinced to wear very stupid things (see the trend of oversized sunglasses, pants that don't say up without using your hands to hold them up) and can especially be convinced if said thing has both a practical and a social signaling purpose (see bluetooth earpieces and those stupid phone holsters everyone was wearing for a while).

On the other hand, no amount of styling, social signaling or practical use will fix the fact that wearing this device over an existing pair of prescription glasses will be inconvenient at best and painful at worst, leaving an entire class of users (and, depending on how strongly they adhere to the stereotype, arguably your best bet for early adopters) out of the loop.

2/23/2013 1:05:15 AM

^They've made it pretty clear that they want this device to be accessible to people who actually wear glasses for vision, and they're definitely working on it. A clip-on device is what makes the most sense (and even their current model reflects that ability) but ideally they would be working for even more direct compatibility. I mean we're still in the early-to-mid stages of product development and so much more would be coming (or so they claim) that I think these issues will be addressed soon enough.

^^I agree with you, Glass seems awkward but so do many new digital mediums with no real flagship product coming before it. Even comparing this to recent tablets would be misleading--it should be more like comparing Glass with the first first tablets, the tablet technology that came many years before and failed on the consumer level. Glass made not have a lot of initial success given the current restrictions on design but hopefully it'll open up a market for augmented technology (hopefully).

And this is of course being just a tad bit optimistic I suppose.

2/23/2013 2:50:21 AM

i'd rather google glass looked like ACTUAL glasses than the thing that they look like now

i don't need glasses or contacts, but i'd wear some frameless (or thin-framed, none of that thick framed shit) glasses on the reg if i decided i wanted google glass

2/23/2013 9:06:20 AM

I don't know what ya'll are talking about. The sooner I look like a cyborg, the better.

2/23/2013 1:18:48 PM

I think it looks goofy too, but I can easily the the urban youth (the literal urban youth, not black people) latching onto it, which means the rest of the country would adopt it soon thereafter.

2/23/2013 2:09:38 PM

One day we'll all be gargoyle's like in Snow Crash.

2/23/2013 2:31:09 PM

^One day I will read Snow Crash just because everyone keeps making the fucking comparison.

2/23/2013 2:43:13 PM

gargoyle's what?

2/23/2013 2:54:09 PM

wings

2/23/2013 3:51:13 PM

i loved that cartoon...especially the relatively high number of TNG folks that did the voices

2/23/2013 3:54:17 PM

Quote :

"One day I will read Snow Crash just because everyone keeps making the fucking comparison."

it will change your life

2/23/2013 6:20:11 PM

Google Glass doesn't seem to be gaining momentum.

I want it to be good

3/27/2013 8:37:45 PM

The Newton didn't gain momentum either ... but eventually we got devices were awesome and did gain momentum.

Give it time.

3/27/2013 11:38:23 PM

people are making laws already around it, and it's not even out yet

i'd say that's a decent chunk of momentum

3/28/2013 8:06:25 AM

^ It doesn't help that a large part of the tech media industry for some strange reason has decided to join the AARP and start railing about those "damn kids and their fancy video glasses"

3/28/2013 9:05:20 AM

Quote :

"I don't know what ya'll are talking about. The sooner I look like a cyborg, the better."

3/28/2013 1:30:12 PM

A note on " privacy"...

If someone is holding their cell phone in a certain way, pointing it at you, there is a reasonable expectation that they are shooting a video or taking a picture of you.
Excluding a red recording light visible to the external world, there would be no such cues for google glass.

I think this really has the ability to change social interaction between humans as we know it today.... Imagine going to work, school, a bar, Pattys boom boom room, etc... having to carry with you the assumption that every action you took or word you said is being recorded.


I'm not complaining, or trying to sway opinion one way or the other, nor am I trying damn Google glass. I just am saying the implications of this device leads us to an interesting place.

3/28/2013 3:29:09 PM

Quote :

"Imagine going to work, school, a bar, Pattys boom boom room, etc... having to carry with you the assumption that every action you took or word you said is being recorded"

If you don't live under this assumption already, you're naive.

3/28/2013 3:37:35 PM

CliffyB, how are these things?

3/30/2013 10:06:29 AM

I bet this will be sweet.

4/3/2013 6:27:57 PM