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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 thought bluetooth headsets enabled people to be oblivious a-holes, but wait till this gets in the hands of the masses.
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
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?"
If you think people with cellphones are dangerous, wait until they start wearing these while driving.
From their design study. And an article about it: project glass.
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!!!
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.
...they'd damned well make sure it only listens to me. (Or else I *will* troll everyone wearing one of these.)
"Browse goatse" will be the new battle cry.
As far as AR goes, the demo looks a little meh. Good AR makes better use of positional awareness (location & attitude), and takes visual cues from a camera to figure out just what you are looking at. The result is AR that actually augments reality, rather than just displays a few amusing overlays on top of it.
For example, instead of the annoying popup that says "Turn left at XYZ street", this thing ought to give you directions by overlaying a subtle line over the sidewalk... then you just follow the Yellow Brick Road. The popups would even be more annoying (and perhaps dangerous) while driving, while displaying a line on the road would be ok (perhaps also highlighting exit signs you need to be aware of). Or imagine AR-enabled instructions (posted on Youtube perhaps), that don't just explain you how to replace your iPhone's battery for example, but highlights the actual parts as you work on them, showing you what goes where etc.
Such AR would also enable something Google might be interested in: overlaying billboards with their own ads. Of course you could use it as a RL adblock, and remove the ads altogether (someone called this "diminished reality").
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...