Google Glasses- Vision Redefined

Google Glasses is an optical head- mounted display designed in the shape of a pair of eyeglasses. It was developed by X (previously Google X) with the mission of producing a ubiquitous computer. Google Glasses displayed information in a smartphone like hands free format. Wearers communicate with the internet via natural language voice commands. It started selling its prototype of Google Glass to qualified “Glass Explorers “in the US for a limited period before it became available to the public. It also has a camera attached to it.

What is it actually?

It is a headset that you wear like a pair of eyeglasses- google has even announced its popping prescription lenses in some of its models. The headset has a small prism- like screen tucked into the upper corner of the frame that keeps you constantly plugged in to our email ids, calls, messages and other notifications. So that we never miss a beat. The main and the basic idea behind glass is that bringing the technology closer will make it easier to disengage from it. The ease in using this device is you need not bend in your phone rather you can look up. And rather than flicking through a list of notifications or emails to see if you missed anything important, you can make that decision immediately and get on with your day.

It’s basically like wearing a heavier pair of glasses with a small screen that hangs just out of your direct line of vision. There are different ways to operate Glass. The device has a touchpad on the side -- the part that goes over your ear -- that you can tap or swipe for navigation. You can use voice commands for Glass by adding the phrase "Okay, Glass" to the start of whatever you tell it to do - launch an app, take a picture, start a call, etc. Users can also wake up Glass by looking up.

What would you use it for?

The google glass has its own store where developers can publish apps that take advantage of the devices unique design. These tend to offer quick bursts of information and seem most useful when you’re doing something that requires your hands, such as cooking. We can get step by step recipe from glass, for instance rather than soiling your cookbook with hands that are coated in sticky dough. The glass had to face plenty of questions and criticism from lawmakers. These include questions about whether people should be able to use glass while they’re behind the wheel and disputes about wearing glass in situations where recording would normally be banned, such as a movie theatre. It’s funny to know that google glasses has so many uses but not all can be used at all times.

Google glasses had been on a trial for a long time until everything was finalized and the final product was then launched in 2015 for sale to public. These glasses created much controversy when they were first shown to public as a prototype. Many of its features were revised and modified and many times it was relaunched in the market for testing. People weren’t happy about the privacy implications. There was nothing which could stop strangers to record or take videos so this created problem for the people and trust factor came in picture. This problem was solved by the head of google by putting a light on the device whenever it was in use. This created some satisfaction amongst the users.

“A great product will survive all abuse. Google Glass is a great product. How do I know? Every person I put it on (I did it dozens of times at 500 start-ups yesterday) smiles. No other product has ever done it since iPod.”

                                                                                                           -Robert Scoble

Google Glasses were something that was not so easily accepted by common people and so after many changes we still hope that glass can find success inside big companies, it might just shed its label as one of the biggest flops of the past decade.  

Note: The views expressed here are those of the author’s and not necessarily represent or reflect the views of DoT Club as a whole.