Slashdot Mirror
Google Glasses Announced
Eponymous Hero writes "The Geordi La Forge in all of us rejoices as Google announces Google Glasses, the augmented reality glasses that will no doubt spy on everything you look at and target you with ads at that crucial moment. The only question left begging is how soon can we merge them with bionic eye implants?"
The googles! They do nothing!
I already have a bionic eye implant, and it would work well with these glasses. It would suck having to wear glasses again, though.
I wouldn't want a HUD implanted. You realise you have to have a needle stuck in your eye to get an implant? It doesn't hurt but it does kind of freak you out.
You will be assimilated... if you live long enough. All the cyborgs I know are geezers.
Free Martian Whores!
I thought bluetooth headsets enabled people to be oblivious a-holes, but wait till this gets in the hands of the masses.
...as if a million nerds suddenly went out and bought contacts...
but google dissuaded me of that with one minute of their "in the life of" video.
Was anyone else wondering if the glasses he wears are hipster glasses?
Not until they are contacts and non-obvious. People get mugged in the city for their iPhones. They're supposed to wear the equivalent on their faces?
These might be a hipsters dream, and frankly they're cool even if they are obnoxiously in your face, but until they are cheap and ubiquitous or invisible it's just not happening for me.
It must include how much ammo I have left, my health and armor. Extra points if it has an image of my head as I take damage.
"I see undead people" Warcraft III - Necromancer
Sooo... Would this cause your brain to overload with all the additional information - or for it to step aside and cease to function?
OK good one. We all know that Google likes to prepare its annual April Fools day gag but they got this one out the door too late!
Yeah, this isn't creepy or invasive in ANY way.
(If I played ukeleles in an attempt to get hoochy-koochy, I certainly wouldn't want Google or anyone else to know that...)
Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
I hope that they do something similar to what the April fools joke did to google maps.
Dragon Quest EVERYWHERE.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
...but I'm not using it with the standard Google software for sure.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
if google wallet and NFC is integrated into this thing its only a matter of time before you'll be pickpocketed with a well-timed noogie
I love how the pitch boils down to "Google goggles: they'll help you get laid". (Ukulele not included)
"Is this just useless, or is it expensive as well?"
to turn them off in the bathroom. Unless you want a lot of Viagara ads.
yes they are cool, but i don't see the usability factor other than it being a smartphone i wear. How will they change my life making them a killer device to buy?
my smartphone makes calls. plays games. plays music and movies. records life events. i use it as my GPS device.etc etc etc.
how will these do it better? from the video it seems their biggest draw is to make you buy stuff right away. i bet the marketers will love them and normal people will hate them
You will be assimilated by the Borg. Resistance is futile.
...they looked like regular shades and not some "I am a geek" fashion statement. I think it's bad enough seeing social zeros walking around with bluetooth headsets in their ears, although thankfully that practice seems to be on the wane.
I noticed that when the user went to share a photo he just took it went on to his Google+ account. If I have the choice of sharing on Facebook then that'd be cool.
I like the concept though. I wonder if Apple are going to get in on this act with some iShades or something. Augmented reality is becoming common now on the smartphone with apps like Yelp which has a nifty Monocle feature that lets you see all the local businesses nearby just by pointing the phone at your surroundings. Stands to reason that eyewear will end up doing the same thing.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
If you think people with cellphones are dangerous, wait until they start wearing these while driving.
They also act as birth-control
It's bad enough that someone will be talking on a bluetooth headset without you knowing, making it seem strange that someone is talking to them selves. Now they will be looking at you and talking to someone else. I can see it now - "Are you looking at me?" "What are you looking at!", hmm.
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
The last thing I want is to be more plugged in. I don't want things popping up in my field of vision unbidden either. I am obviously not their target market. Maybe teens and college kids will love it. To me it's a total fail.
From their design study. And an article about it: project glass.
I am now dreading being next to the person on the plane or the bus who is screaming into one of these during a google voice session while making all kinds of crazy gestures to read their email.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
the crucial moment i was referring to in the summary occurs toward the end of viewing porn, but you've been spared the reference :)
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
The one common thread in all of these videos with smartphones, smart glasses, etc. is an ADD-hyperactive 20-ish person who is *always* portrayed as living in a bustling city with a million different things happening at once...and never working at a job. While people in this type of environment really do exist (Strand Books is a family book store in NYC, btw), that is not how the majority of the US and the rest of the world lives.
I think a more exciting and relate-able way of introducing this technology is to show how it could be used some sort of work or industrial environment. For example, I found a lot more ways to use and relate to a smartphone at work before I could begin to integrate one into my non-work life.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
The only question left begging is how soon can we merge them with bionic eye implants?
I believe the answer is 2027.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Just like your iPhone and iPad, you will be able to turn these off/remove them when you don't want things popping up unbidden in your field of vision. More likely they will be configurable enough to manage the balance between unbidden and on demand behavior. If not, there will be a CyanogenMod build that is configurable enough to tweak to you're liking, including compensating for your profound lack of self-discipline if you can't make yourself unplug on your own.
All will go well until Google decides this is yet another project they blew a bunch of money on for no real return, and send a remote-kill command to all the units. Like Buzz and Wave and Health and and and...
They should link to that product the ideas behind SixthSense, at least for display, gestures as user interfaces, and what kind of information you can pick and expand from environment.
Don't look at yr junk unless you want the truth.
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
To me the iPhone and the iPad are total fail. Different strokes for different folks. I personally have no interest in Google Glasses but I can appreciate the attempt and the tech behind it.
I have no idea how they expect to burn so many CPU cycles doing real time computation and keeping a bright-in-daylight screen on while having decent battery life on a device so small that it fits on glasses frames. The idea is cool, but I think we need a breakthrough in battery technology to support these Google Glasses.
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
Was I the only one who thought it was kinda sad that he "shared" the sunset with the girl, but he really was there all alone?
I kept picking up on all the obvious places where the Google ads would be. Come on, you KNOW it's going to happen...
When your eyes settle on the sandwich you're about to eat
AUTO-AD: Wouldn't some TIM'S CASCADE CHIPS go good with this sandwich? They're only $1.99 at a store 300 ft. from your current location
As you say 'Meet me at Strand Books'
AUTO-AD: BARNES & NOBLE has a much bigger selection of music books, and is conveniently located one block to your left.
Walking down street
AUTO-AD: Immediately to your left - CITY DENTURES AND IMPLANTS has been providing quality orthodontia for over 50 years!
While grabbing coffee at a street vendor recommended by your friend
AUTO-AD: STARBUCKS is 250 feet behind you, and is running a special - $1.00 off with coupon code 100OFFNOW
#DeleteChrome
There's no question to beg.
Reference: http://begthequestion.info/
You just know... "With those things sitting right at your temple this has got to cause RF induced brain cancer! The CDC and WHO should stop this before it can even get started! OMG OMG OMG." ... it's going to happen.
It all starts at 0
eyePhone from Futurama episode Attack of the Killer App S06E03.
Look at...
https://plus.google.com/111626127367496192147/photos
And say...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBtpyeLxVkI
Did you ever look at your parents when you were young and wondered when you'd get to that point where your thought patterns would switch from "cool" to "what we've got is good enough, dagnabbit" and you'd be officially old? Congrats, you're there. Its not a set age, its a state of mind.
Are there going to be problems with these? Sure. Will they be clunky and not good to start with? Of course. Is it the start of "something new", possibly something awesome? Most definitely. Sorry you won't be along for the ride.
Was I the only one who thought it was kinda sad that he "shared" the sunset with the girl, but he really was there all alone?
Well, happiness and sadness are relative to your starting position. If you had a real girl before, of course it'd be sad. But if all you have is a waifu, being able to see her besides you would be an upgrade.
Was expecting Cloverfield Monster every moment of that painful video. Google should be paying us for the inconvenience and emotional harm suffered at their hands.
Yes, can hardly wait for an army of idiots walking around talking to themselves.
Book a ticket to San Francisco right now!
Between people with bluetooth headsets and a vast array of homeless, your dream will be true in no time.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I can't wait for the app that will analyze a woman's clothing and give you a virtual facsimile of what she looks like naked. It's going to happen. And then it will be banned in the app store. And then it will be remade for the use of one pedophile on rooted glasses so they can see little kids naked out in the street. And then congress will get involved and the glasses will be banned.
You know what, let's just forget the whole thing.
They'll just let app market figure it all out. EyeDroid Apps top 10:
#1 "The Nekkid Sprites" aka Girls Around Me 3D
does this come with auto-stream to homeland security?
till you have ads all over your HUD!
There is a lot of hate so far, but I could see these being useful. I am definitely not a teenager anymore either, solidly middle-aged family man. I listen to a ridiculously large amount of news, audio books and music on my phone. I also regularly use it for looking things up or getting directions when I am out. I find myself using it more and more for chat (text, google talk, etc) and email, even though I am near a computer almost all the time.
I would hope there is a way to control it with eye movement or something so it could be used silently for most things. For example, pausing what I am listening to is one of the big annoyances with my current phone setup, it would be nice to just look up and blink twice or something to pause the book or music. A do not disturb mode for when I was working on something that required being in the zone would be helpful, but if I am just hanging out I would not mind popups about messages. Calendar popups would be helpful as I have my work calendar synced to my google calendar and am often running from meeting to meeting. I would also want it to be integrated into the glasses I already wear or available with prescription lenses. I am slightly cross-eyed, so I can't use contacts effectively.
There will always be people who are obnoxious with whatever technology they have available, from people with boom boxes in the 80's to the blue tooth yellers of today. So I can't really hold that against the technology.
The MPAA attempt to compel theaters to disable my camera as I head into a movie?
The RIAA will seek to eavesdrop and charge me for listening to music I may not have licensed from them.
Cops will pull drivers over for distracted driving (even if only a GPS app was running), and compel drivers to share their unlock password to review what was running.
Someone will post videos from the changing room at a gym and get sued.
An employee will sue after being fired when management jacks into the camera on the company issued goggles to observe them and sees something risque.
-- "In a time of drastic change it is the learners who survive; the 'learned' find themselves fully equipped to live in
For a long time I have wanted my phone camera mounted onto my glasses. Beyond that I am not sure I am interested in the rest of the stuff.
So once these get cameras in them, theill be banned from all private property (see stores). they generally dont want you taking pictures in there or recording things.
but I already live in the Jobs Reality Distortion Field!
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Virtual Light (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Light)
What I need now is the bike frame made of crushed recycled paper and fluorescent energy-absorbing rims!
Being a robot I find those glasses kind of dull. So 90ish.
... well perhaps you didn't.
Just think of the apps you can run on this - where are the girls? Just look up and there is a big virtual arrow in the sky pointing!
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
I love the idea, but they have shown very boring uses in their video. Surely there are more exciting applications they could have shown.
e.g.
1. Watching tv at work without your boss knowing.
2. A virtual assistant that you can customize who actually stands in the environment around you (locked into place using SLAM). Think Number Six from Galactica.
3. Objects that appear in the environment that only you and and your friends can see. e.g. A huge statue of yourself at a popular tourist location.
What it should show is people standing around waiting for data to reach them.
Black Mirror episode 2 is becoming a reality.
I had something exactly like this a couple of decades ago, but I broke it and the replacement cost was too high. Well over $9K.
you will be able to turn these off/remove them
sure - with the 1st gen product. 2nd gen will be optionally implantable and 3rd gen will be attached at birth.
Did you ever look at your parents when you were young and wondered when you'd get to that point where your thought patterns would switch from "cool" to "what we've got is good enough, dagnabbit" and you'd be officially old? Congrats, you're there. Its not a set age, its a state of mind.
Are there going to be problems with these? Sure. Will they be clunky and not good to start with? Of course. Is it the start of "something new", possibly something awesome? Most definitely. Sorry you won't be along for the ride.
1. This is not "the start" of such AR. Rather a start of the Chocolate Factory trying to make it cool enough for masses.
2. Facebook is "cool", but I do not feel "officially old" by not using it. And a kung-fu master does not feel old because he has not got into zumba.
It is still considered extremely dorky to wear a phone headset outside of a car. We would have to come up with a whole new range of adjectives to describe the level of dorkiness associated with wearing one of these. I doubt it will catch on before it becomes less visible than an earpiece...
Google has been using eye tracking technology in internal product testing for years. If they included electrooculography (EOG) sensors in the glasses, such as those demonstrated in this prototype from ETH Zürich, they could allow wearers to manipulate real world objects just by staring at them.
Some more thoughts on this (think: virtual telekinesis) here.
Did you ever look at your parents when you were young and wondered when you'd get to that point where your thought patterns would switch from "cool" to "what we've got is good enough, dagnabbit" and you'd be officially old? Congrats, you're there. Its not a set age, its a state of mind.
Are there going to be problems with these? Sure. Will they be clunky and not good to start with? Of course. Is it the start of "something new", possibly something awesome? Most definitely. Sorry you won't be along for the ride.
Meh. When it's "something awesome" I might be interested. Right now it's clunky and stupid. Teens and college kids have time to put up with clunky and stupid for some marginal benefit. I don't.
"Meh."
I'm envisioning you leaning over, adjusting your glasses, and then leaning back and waving your hand. "When you've been around long as I have Sonny, you don't earn no favors by being all excitable".
... to see more ads. This time as they were real.
"Meh."
I'm envisioning you leaning over, adjusting your glasses, and then leaning back and waving your hand. "When you've been around long as I have Sonny, you don't earn no favors by being all excitable".
Haha. The day I say something like that is the day I die.
Don't mistake someone who wishes to escape digital overload with someone who is a technology-eschewing luddite. There's a big difference between wanting to be away from the noise of the machinery and wanting to throw your sabots into the gears of the machinery.
Can't wait to use it to control the Google light bulb that will be available Christmas... 2011.
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/06/13/2015215/googles-android-ambitions-go-beyond-mobile
If it isn't in your hand, it's vapourware, I just hope they don't scare someone else from actually making personal HUDs.
You would think of any organization that could do it, Google would be the one to make Steve Mann's EyeTap a commercial reality, or at least a buyable DIY kit. Where is the common man/gargoyle gonna get his gear?
I could easily see a monocle type or regular glasses type EyeTap, using something like a cut down Thunderbolt based protocol/cable interface. Avoids bluetooth bandwidth limits, probably easier to get your hands on good chips, it's fast since everything shows up as PCIexpress, supplies power, and probably easier to deal with. Use something like a low power laser DLP projector chip to get high resolution for the display with wide field of view.
The video has to be fake. Nobody 'high-fives' each other any more.
If you think people with cellphones are dangerous, wait until they start wearing these while driving.
In the Google future, this is not a problem.
I can't wait until its integrated with Google Street View as well!
I'm not buying these untli they make a pair that looks like this:
http://images.google.com/search?q=spider+jerusalem+glasses
The day I say something like that is the day I die.
But you already did, just in different words.
The day I say something like that is the day I die.
But you already did, just in different words.
Oh, damn! You're right! I've turned into a technology fuddy-duddy and I didn't even know it! Thanks so much for giving me a chance to stay cool by buying into the hype machine! Haha.
Over time, as the information it provides genuinely proves itself useful, the brain would become increasingly dependent on the additional information being provided by it to convey an accurate presentation of things. Unless they were accustomed to dealing with periodic system disruptions, removing it for even a short period would result in the same sort of disorientation and confusion that arises if a person suddenly lost one of their senses.
This is when mobile ISPs become drug-dealers.
..is that it will now become easier to spot an idiot out of a large crowd. Just look for the schmuck wearing Google Glasses.
I'll buy them tomorrow if they have a decent SDK and are priced below $1000. The question is not what Google can/will do with them but what I as a developer can do with them.
I didn't say you should "buy into the hype machine", but your attitude is clearly one of the conservative, older generation, an attitude you've adopted without even realizing it. I'm not saying it's wrong or right.
They're not really augmenting anything. I imagined a big pin being displayed at your destination or a blue mark over the road to show the path to your destination. My first impressions are that it's another Google fail.
wait till you start getting adverts on these things.... f*ck!!!
Where is the clip-on version that works with already-existing glasses?
Idiots! You know, glasses, which 99% of nerds, your early adopters with the cash to do so, wear?
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
It's not and I haven't. It's pretty arrogant for you to suggest otherwise based on a one line statement. Your suggestion has about as much validity as me saying your attitude is one of the feckless, younger generation who must have the latest gadget regardless of its utility and you mistakenly think of this attitude as being open to innovation.
It's not and I haven't.
It's funny that you can't face what you've become.
It's pretty arrogant for you to suggest otherwise based on a one line statement.
You're the one talking about "teens and college students", which duh, that's part of the younger generation you used to be.
It's not and I haven't.
It's funny that you can't face what you've become.
It's pretty arrogant for you to suggest otherwise based on a one line statement.
You're the one talking about "teens and college students", which duh, that's part of the younger generation you used to be.
It's funny that you can't admit you are wrong. I had the same attitude when I was a teen and in college but then again I wasn't like most teens and college students. It has nothing to do with age.
If it had nothing to do with age then you wouldn't be derisively talking about teens and college students, now would you?
The fact that I did have the same attitude in college is proof that it is not age-based. My derisive comments about teens and college students is based on a general opinion about them that I also had in college. So, that opinion might be wrong or overly broad but again is not age-based. I am sorry you were offended by being lumped into that category but you haven't done much to change my opinion.
The fact that I did have the same attitude in college is proof that it is not age-based.
No, it only proves that you felt differently (or claim, since I can't verify how you felt or acted "back in the day").
not age-based
Talking about teens and college students is based on age, and to claim otherwise is ridiculous.
I am sorry you were offended by being lumped into that category but you haven't done much to change my opinion.
Wrong assumption. I'm neither a teen, in college, or offended by your remarks. I just find your stance amusing and typical of how people act when they age.
Well clearly I'm not amusing you because I'm not demonstrating what you are suggesting. So, you must be amused by your own false, pet theory. In which case you are like a person who laughs at their own jokes when nobody else gets them. Move along.
It wasn't "my pet theory", it was somebody else's observation that was modded up to +5. Clearly you're in denial about basic facts.
Yes and I answered him that he was mistaken. I was simply using college kids and teens as short-hand for people that have a lot of time on their hands (a non-age specific quality) and subsequently can put up with the rough edges of new products. I certainly will be "along for the ride" once most of the bugs are worked out. I have never been an early adopter (also a non-age specific quality). Thus, this whole little discussion was predicated on a misunderstanding. QED .
I was simply using college kids and teens as short-hand for people that have a lot of time on their hands (a non-age specific quality) and subsequently can put up with the rough edges of new products.
Yet no mention of retired or out of work people. You chose a young demographic for a reason.
I certainly will be "along for the ride" once most of the bugs are worked out.
You originally said, "The last thing I want is to be more plugged in."
I was simply using college kids and teens as short-hand for people that have a lot of time on their hands (a non-age specific quality) and subsequently can put up with the rough edges of new products.
Yet no mention of retired or out of work people. You chose a young demographic for a reason.
Not especially and unless you really can read my mind (rather than simply claim to) and go back in time you are going to have to take my word for it.
I certainly will be "along for the ride" once most of the bugs are worked out.
You originally said, "The last thing I want is to be more plugged in."
Your pedantry knows no end. Again, "being too plugged in" is short-hand for being bombarded with non-essential information. I am sorry but what you are looking to prove is simply not true.I can see that what I wrote is ambiguous enough to be interpreted that way but it's simply not what I meant. It's a Slashdot post, not a published work. I think this discussion has provided me with some interesting self-reflection but I think it's hit the point of diminishing returns. Feel free to think what you like.
you are going to have to take my word for it
Why would I do that when you've gotten basic facts wrong and the obvious interpretation of what you said speaks otherwise?
I can't believe you want to continue this discussion. Do you just want to have the last word? Frankly, I don't care whether you believe me or not. And your interpretation is only obvious if one is a pedantic stickler for literal interpretations. I have satisfied myself that your comment is groundless and that's all that really matters to me. If you want the last word, go for it.
I can't believe you want to continue this discussion. Do you just want to have the last word?
Ask yourself the same question.
And your interpretation is only obvious if one is a pedantic stickler for literal interpretations.
Wrong again, as it was the interpretation applied by numerous people before me, as I already pointed out.
I have satisfied myself that your comment is groundless and that's all that really matters to me.
Of course you have. It's a self-defense mechanism.
I'll let xkcd speak for both of us:
http://xkcd.com/386/
It would eliminate the projector that is being worn. www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense