Google Project Glass is offering you the chance to live in the same augmented reality that The Terminator did – had he been involved in a social network that is.
So what is Google Project Glass? Well basically the cosmetic side is that it’s literally a pair of glasses – ones that make you look like Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but with one eye.
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The science bit is that the glasses see real life whilst being augmented by computer sensory input, in this case voice and location. You can instruct the glasses to set reminders, take photos and share them and also have some face time with your nearest and dearest.
They can also plan routes, divert you to particular sections of stores and even send e-mail to your friends all via speech and location based software. Google are keen to enforce that such wearers could include doctors and business owners, paving the way for second opinions and business meetings.
But will it take off? Well I don’t see why not, we’re gadget fvcking crazy and I’d be lying if I said I don’t find them fascinating. The cons follow the pros however, and ultimately not knowing the final outcome of the product, I can only guess on such cons.
One drawback is the “online friends” feature, which you can also use to track location. Now there will always be a time a white lie is told to evade a meeting – imagine the horror of discovering that your friend has completely billy bullshitted you and is out with ten of his mates two roads down, not good!
It also poses problems for those with the more possessive of partners checking in at every given opportunity and face calling you when you least want to talk (those private “toilet breaks” for example). There is also the infamous privacy question to be asked: with you sharing your life for the best part of 12 hours a day, how long before it backfires on you? See the below video for the drawbacks to such glasses.
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