How Google Glass Is Evolving As It Heads For Release To Developers

hypnosec writes "Babak Parviz, the founder and head of Project Glass at Google, has revealed that the feature set of Google Glass and state of apps is still in flux and that there is a lot of testing going on at the moment. In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Parviz provided insights into Project Glass, the reasons behind having such a gadget and what's there for the project in near future. Parviz said that they are trying out new ideas and ways in which the platform can be used while also trying to make the platform more robust. There is no specific feature set that Google has been talking about and 'It is still in flux.'" My favorite question / answer pair: "IEEE Spectrum: What kind of business model is associated with Google Glass? Babak Parviz: This is still being worked on, but we are quite interested in providing the hardware."

Comments

what's Project Glass?

[corbettw]

In case, like me, you had never heard of this project:

Project Glass is a research and development program by Google to develop an augmented reality head-mounted display (HMD).[2] Project Glass products would display information in smartphone-like format[3] hands-free and could interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands.[4] The prototype's functionality and minimalist appearance (aluminium strip with 2 nose pads) has been compared to Steve Mann's EyeTap.[5][6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Glass

Google decides

[Anonymous Coward]

How many ads per hour will be displayed. You thought there wouldn't be ads? haha

Re:Google decides

[Paradise Pete]

Google owns a hardware manufacturing company now. They could very easily do this as a pure-hardware play and make lots of money.

Google owns a hardware company that makes negative lots of money.

Re:one business model: military

[Dr. Zim]

I'm sure law enforcement would be happy to have the same tech.

Re:Does not bode well

[timeOday]

You cannot just have a new computing form factor and throw stuff at it to see what sticks.

I don't think there is any other way to do it. Hardware and software advance in lockstep (or maybe a 3 legged race?)

I hate to constantly make comparisons to apple, but if you look at their successful products, you'll see they had a clear focus and vision for it from the software standpoint.

Apple's App Store didn't exist for the first year after the iPhone was released. The iTunes store wasn't opened until a year and a half after the iPod launched.

Re:There was a sci fi book ...

[Zemran]

The really surreal part is that under the current legal system, transmitting./supplying child porn across the internet is a more serious crime than actually having sex with a child. The point is that seeing something, wearing these, can be more of a crime than doing it and you are going to provide the evidence against yourself...

'Last thirty seconds'

[benjfowler]

I think for me, the killer application would be having such a device record everything I see into a circular buffer, and then if some cockhead does something obnoxious or criminal in the street, it can be kept to either hand timestamped footage to police, or to shame said people on the Internet.

The doomsayers may call it a totalitarian hell, but I think it could yet be a renaissance for the polite and law-abiding majority.

Re:'Last thirty seconds'

[russotto]

I think for me, the killer application would be having such a device record everything I see into a circular buffer, and then if some cockhead does something obnoxious or criminal in the street, it can be kept to either hand timestamped footage to police, or to shame said people on the Internet.

I'm going to go right ahead and call this a totalitarian hell. Millions of Mrs. Grundys with always-on recording. Having to justify after-the-fact every action I took that someone in the area took offense to would be a full time job.

The doomsayers may call it a totalitarian hell, but I think it could yet be a renaissance for the polite and law-abiding majority.

There is no polite and law-abiding majority. There are too many laws and too many rules (many conflicting) associated with "polite".

More informant reports than gov't spying?

[perpenso]

say wha?

Where does government spying even come into play at the moment? I'm genuinely confused. Regardless, enabling easier spying goes both ways - it becomes easier to spy on the government too.

Where does government spying even come into play at the moment? I'm genuinely confused.

It may not be gov't spying as much as you are constantly surrounded by "informants". In the sci fi book I mentioned in a different post I recall adults, the older the more likely, constantly recording young people to deter vandalism, robberies, muggings, etc. Things devolved to the point where the smallest infraction of a rule led to a video being submitted to the police.

No more yelling "get off my lawn". Instead a video titled "Johnny trespassing on my property" gets emailed to the police.

Re:More informant reports than gov't spying?

[BasilBrush]

In the sci fi book I mentioned in a different post I recall adults, the older the more likely, constantly recording young people to deter vandalism, robberies, muggings, etc. Things devolved to the point where the smallest infraction of a rule led to a video being submitted to the police.

That's not sci fi, that's Japan.

And ordinary driver would find it useful ...

[perpenso]

A person driving a car would find it useful for the same reason that military pilots find it useful. A heads up display would keep the drivers eyes on the road. No more looking down at instruments, the screen with maps or rear view camera image; or looking at road signs for hazard warnings and other alerts.

And of course since it is google there will probably be ads from the businesses that you are driving past. :-)

Re:Inputs.

[sandytaru]

The Kinect has shown that gestures are a completely useful and acceptable means of input. If they have any technology similar, then we'll be making sign language - esque gestures to interact with the glasses.

Still Waiting For Some Skydiving Goggles

[Greyfox]

I'm still waiting for some skydiving goggles with a heads up display. Looking at my altimeter fucks up my airflow while I'm tracking. It'd also be really helpful to know my fall speed as I'm falling, so I can work on falling more slowly. I fall like a bat out of hell -- normal human terminal velocity is around 120 mph, but this is largely weight dependent. I know Galileo fans just had an aneurysm but you know what, fuck that guy! If you want to fall faster in skydiving, you add weight! Look it up! Anyway, I fall around 140 mph. Body position can also affect this, and I can fall much more slowly, but not consistently. Having some way to practice this other than exiting linked with someone and trying to maintain my speed relative to them would be really nice.

Recon instruments has some heads up display ski googles and are releasing a modified set for skydiving, I'll give these a try, but it'd be neat if there were more options.