Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#261

Post by base698 » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:27 AM UTC

jokermatt999 wrote: post #176

marshallp wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the problem with the google boys, they're a one hit wonder. They lucked out with search, a research project, and now they think they know what they're doing. They need to take their bozo hat off and realize they need to partner with the rest of the world to get stuff done. Apple's success is not just due to Job's taste but also extensive ties with chinese manufacturers and real focused hard work. A "secret" X…

> That's the problem with the google boys, they're a one hit wonder. You don't consider GMail, their dominance in ads, Android's ubiquity, the YouTube acquisition, etc as successes? Because all of those seem to have improved vastly since Google took control of them.

Android was an acquisition....

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#262

Post by bo1024 » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:29 AM UTC

sonnekki wrote: post #144

windsurfer wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm imagining a remix of the featured video to look something like this: * Guy wakes up, puts on glasses. They immediately tell him what brand of breakfast he should be eating today. * When he looks at the window to see the weather, buildings and places are censored, and advertisements are replaced with google ads, yet he doesn't care * During the text message with his friend, after he says "Strand books", Google sug…

This is a very interesting interpretation of that video. It has such a dystopian flavor. Yes, it solves problems for you, but at the expense of a full thought process.

You already live that life on the Internet. Why is it so hard to imagine it following you into the real world?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#263

Post by russell » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:30 AM UTC

dsl wrote: post #180

jrockway wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what has Google ever engineered, at least physically, that has set your expectations so high? Driverless cars.

Thanks to a number of wars and billions being pumped into the UAV market, the likes of Raytheon, Thales Optronics, FLIR Systems, ITT, BAE, IAI, and probably a hundred other companies have made self driving cars possible. Not Google. Even when I was working on autonomous vehicles 10+ years ago, the entire setup was basically a "solved problem" minus environmental sensing accurate and reliable enough to be put in the c…

I would posit that the secret sauce is the integration of Google maps and street views. The driverless car isnt just reacting to its sensor inputs, it has a pretty good idea of what is coming up including potential problems.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#264

Post by lukifer » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:33 AM UTC

cromwellian wrote: post #199

fudged wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you ask that? Did you hear about how Google dogfooded Google+ for months, and when it was released to the public, people used it entirely differently than they had used it internally? It seems to me that Google is so stuck in the mindset of "Release a Beta, assess the adoption, iteratively improve" that they don't know how to make a product that people will actually want from the start. Chrome took a while…

I don't see why everyone should seek to emulate Apple, it's the antithesis of the Valley mentality. Everyone else goes for openness, iteration, and lean mentality, not stealth and secrecy, it rarely works. You can't always design products from the top down. Sometimes you have to run actual experiments and collect data. The Apple aura that they can sit in an ivory tower and perfectly craft things that everyone wants w…

Apple creates bombs all the time: the G4 Cube, iPod Socks, iPod Hi-Fi, iAds. They create enough other things that don't bomb to make up for it.

But you're right that Apple's way is only one way, and it's non-obvious how to go about replicating their processes even if you wanted to.

If anything should be learned from Apple, it's every aspect of the experience should be considered part of the product, including anticipation and expectations. That can mean a big media event unveiling a top-secret project, or it can mean launching a developer wiki before the product is even finished. Either way, managing the experiences of your customers, even pre-purchase, is part of the job.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#265

Post by modeless » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:35 AM UTC

dsl wrote: post #241

modeless wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UAV control has basically nothing to do with self-driving cars. It's a completely different problem. The only piece that's shared is the GPS/IMU, and it's a small piece. And if you think "the state machine for how to behave on paved roads" is the hard part, you're delusional. "Environmental sensing accurate and reliable enough" isn't the problem either. Although fancy lasers and radars can help, we have had cameras,…

Sorry for the confusing use of the term. UAV means unmanned autonomous vehicles. UAV in reference to aerial platforms is mostly the result of marketing/media. Even the early Daimler-Benz projects of the 90's had fully functional software stacks that had implemented all the required decision making logic of driving. While it is true that we have cameras and microphones that work better than our own eyes and ears, I do…

I don't think anyone would dispute the fact that the sensory processing isn't to human levels yet

And that's the exact problem Google is working on, and where all previous efforts have failed miserably, no matter how good their "rules of the road" state machines were in theory. Saying Daimler-Benz solved autonomous driving years ago is like saying SHRDLU solved natural language processing.

The advancements that have been made are in different types of sensing devices that eliminate the need for heavy post-processing of data

There are exactly two new kinds of sensing devices used on the Google cars AFAIK: small automotive radars and the Velodyne spinning LIDAR. The latter owes its existence not to giant defense contractors or car manufacturers but to a small loudspeaker company, of all things. Furthermore, it absolutely does not eliminate the need for heavy post-processing of data.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#266

Post by Retric » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:36 AM UTC

dsl wrote: post #241

modeless wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UAV control has basically nothing to do with self-driving cars. It's a completely different problem. The only piece that's shared is the GPS/IMU, and it's a small piece. And if you think "the state machine for how to behave on paved roads" is the hard part, you're delusional. "Environmental sensing accurate and reliable enough" isn't the problem either. Although fancy lasers and radars can help, we have had cameras,…

Sorry for the confusing use of the term. UAV means unmanned autonomous vehicles. UAV in reference to aerial platforms is mostly the result of marketing/media. Even the early Daimler-Benz projects of the 90's had fully functional software stacks that had implemented all the required decision making logic of driving. While it is true that we have cameras and microphones that work better than our own eyes and ears, I do…

I think we could start putting self driving cars on the road today that would lower both the number of fatality's and accidents. We don't need more processing power, better sensors, or lower costs. What we need is slightly better software and the willingness to put it into production.

After-all the 'worst case' in a car is basically solved 99.9% of the time by staying in the correct lane, obeying stop lights / signs, speed limits, and simply hitting the breaks if your going to hit something. Sure, you could improve on that, but get that to work reliably and your already doing better than human drivers, who get distracted, drunk, tired, impatient, angry, and just plain overwhelmed.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#267

Post by akurilin » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:36 AM UTC

falling wrote: post #47

jgrahamc wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, in the concept video he goes into a physical book store and selects a physical book and buys it. Surely, his Googgles would just scan the book tell him how much cheaper it was in the Google Store... Rather amused that when meeting a friend he spent time checking in to the location rather than talking to the dude. But these could be useful in situations where you don't have your hands free to hold a smartphone.…

> And skiers/snowborders would enjoy them for other information (How many Gs am I pulling in this turn? How fast am I descending? Where am I?) http://www.reconinstruments.com/products/mod

That is absolutely mind-blowing. I had to double-check online that it wasn't a concept mock-up or a joke, but it turned out to be a real product. I have no idea how well that screen looks in RL, but if it's half as good as in those promotional videos, then it's pretty impressive.

I thought it was going to cost a few thousand, but it's only 300/400, wow.

I can only imagine what a company with the talent and resources of Google could do with more advanced iterations of HUD technology.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#268

Post by throwawaay » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 3:39 AM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #256

throwawaay wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember Communicating with Care? You might want to go review that. Or just stop posting so much about Google altogether.

So you're saying it's careless to respond to comments on the Internet?

I'm saying that speculating about what Google can and cannot do to competitors in public is definitely not Communicating with Care, and that your comment history is littered with borderline cases like this one. Just stop.

Further, you don't actually need to respond to every stupid, incorrect statement on the Internet that's written about your new employer. Really.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#269

Post by jrockway » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 4:04 AM UTC

throwawaay wrote: post #268

jrockway wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying it's careless to respond to comments on the Internet?

I'm saying that speculating about what Google can and cannot do to competitors in public is definitely not Communicating with Care, and that your comment history is littered with borderline cases like this one. Just stop. Further, you don't actually need to respond to every stupid, incorrect statement on the Internet that's written about your new employer. Really.

I see where you're coming from. Why do you have to use a misspelled throwaway account to say this, though?

(Ultimately, I see the risk in saying "I think XXX" if Google decides to someday do the opposite of XXX. But there is some limit; I'm still going to say that writing unit tests is good even if Google's official message to investors becomes "testing is a waste of time". That's because I'm me, and I have my own opinions. If Google wants to make an official statement, they have a blog for that. If someone wants to misconstrue a personal opinion of mine as an official statement, well... let's just say that their Pulitzer hopes may be dashed...)

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#270

Post by acchow » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 4:10 AM UTC

jodrellblank wrote: post #203

dannyr wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people see the infinite possibilities to what Google is doing. While others see only what's wrong to what Google is doing.

If I wanted infinite possibilities, I'd go outside. I pay companies to narrow out the nearly-infinite shitty possibilities and provide a useful grouping of the remainder.

Innovative products from companies are more than "fold" or "reduce" operations.