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Google Glasses
The Future is Coming and it's all Google's Fault.The dream of Augmented Reality is coming to life. It’s coming fast; in fact it has already made its first step into our world. Internet giant Google has long been hyping their Glass prototypes, but now the first round of beta models are on the heads of a select few, and the final product is expected to be available to the public next year. The prototypes show a lot of promise, but are still in need of some improvements.
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So what is Glass anyways? Google’s introduction video does a good job of introducing the concept, but does the concept match the project? As you can see from Google’s more recent “How it Feels” Video, the operations have remained mostly the same, but the interface itself has taken a slight turn. Rather than being a full vision display, the unique glass display rest only in the right eye’s vision field, in fact, just above it. In the future this detail may prevent historians from cataloging Glass as an “Augmented Reality” device, because the user will have to actively attempt to use the device. However, for now Glass is being hailed as an Augmented Reality device, because the user will be able to use and view it without only the voice and a slight look up.
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In addition to the unique display, Glass boasts a bone conduction transducer to carry audio to the users ear and a 5 megapixel camera, aimed to share the users view. The current model also has 12 gigabytes of internal storage as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. In fact, many of the common problems among beta testers have been related to these limited connectivitys. Most of the publicized uses for glass involve an internet connection or even GPS . The option is available to connect a smartphone via Bluetooth to enable these; however, Bluetooth is notorious for draining battery. These problems are not likely to be addressed immediately; most likely the technology for these functions need to shrink a little more before being comfortable to suspend from a user’s face. However, this could open up for a niche line of phones featuring mainly (or only) GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Although it is too early to tell if Glass will fly or flop, it is clear that Google starting a large turn on the technology road; a turn towards technology conforming to the user. For decades now our lives have changed as we have adopted new technologies. With this push for the merging and repositioning of technology, Google has started what is likely to be a wave of condensing and adjusting. As this wave progresses, it will quickly approach true augmented reality, where the user’s world will be viewed completely through the lens of another reality. The debate will continue as to how this will affect society physiologically, but the fact remains: A change is coming and Glass has set it off.