 |
| Google's Sergey Brin wearing Google Glass |
There has rarely been a
single item of technology that has caught public interest as much as the launch
of the Apple iPhone did in 2007. Google's wearable technology Project Glass is
now looking to capture that same interest.
By overlaying information
into a heads-up display, users can access an Android OS while going about their
day. A new promotional video shows happy Californians skydiving, enjoying
ballet and flying lessons, all the time being augmented by hands-free image and
video capture.
Fifteen million views in
its first week on YouTube show that the Google augmented reality glasses have
overtaken the iWatch as the most coveted piece of wearable technology that you
can't own yet. There has also been an influx of ideas on social media sites
speculating around possible uses for the kit. But will Project Glass be a
commercial success?
It's hard to tell.
Apple's great success was the iPhone, which has now made smartphones the norm
and seen over 35 billion apps downloaded on the App store in just seven years. Since
Sir Jonathan Ives and Steve Jobs asked the development community to think
differently about communications, there has hardly been a stone unturned in the
quest of the app to disrupt traditional media and business. But other
technologies have been less revolutionary or have failed to take off at all:
tablets are, in all honesty, just bigger smartphones, and 3D TV has done down
like a multipack of Findus lasagne.
With the Glass project,
Google are asking if the iPhone revolution could be repeated, and at the same
time
stop a generation of people spending half their waking lives staring at their hands. By hoping to inspire a new wave of creativity, Google could finally challenge the smartphone's dominance.
stop a generation of people spending half their waking lives staring at their hands. By hoping to inspire a new wave of creativity, Google could finally challenge the smartphone's dominance.
A new site release,
coinciding with Sergey Brin's appearance at this week's TED 2013, had Google
offering people a chance to get hold of the new tech ahead of time. By seeking
"bold, creative individuals who want to join us and be a part of shaping
the future of Glass", Google encouraged people to submit ideas via the
Twitter hashtag #ifihadglass and earn the right to become an
"Explorer", thus getting your hands on a pair before the expected
2014 launch.
If you have ever fancied
being an startup entrepreneur but couldn't find the inspiration, you could do a
lot worse than taking a look through some ideas listed under #ifihadglass. I
mentioned in a post last year that Project Glass, if realized could have
profound impacts on fields such as engineering and medicine. Already ideas have
been offered up around augmented surgery, education and crowd sourced knowledge
sharing. The would-be "Explorers" still have to part with $1,500,
plus the flights to the US, for collection.
At the same time, the
company is pushing Google Now, a predictive recommendations engine that can
send you push notifications about anything from traffic warnings to places of
potential interest and recommended dishes in a restaurant. Brin's vision of a
world where "…you wouldn’t have to have a search query at all — the
information would just come to you as you needed it" will be one step
closer, when Glass and Now pair up, as they inevitably will.
The question is: is this
what we want? Do people really want Google telling them what to do, all day?
"Based on your previous choices, you might like to try the dover
sole?" I honestly don't know. But in the meantime, Project Glass does look
cool; a lot cooler, at least, than those boxy cameras worn by cyclists
and skiers. I might submit some #ifihadglass ideas on to Kick starter.
previous article
Newer Post
No comments
Post a Comment