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Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

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Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#11

Post by astrodust »

Groxx wrote: post #4
astrodust wrote: post #3

Is it just me or is the likelihood of this taking off a little lower than the Segway revolutionizing transport worldwide?

Segways would need parking / secure storage, or lots more upper body strength on the average person to get them up stairs. Costly physical barriers to widespread use. Something like this pretty much just needs something to charge from. Like your computer while you work, and the wall while you sleep, from a USB port perhaps (which you already have). Not making any claims as to which are more useful / applicable to mor…

I can imagine people wearing headsets like that all the time would cause innumerable problems.

They'll be like bluetooth headsets. Reserved for a very specific subset of the population.

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#12

Post by halfnelson »

"So we decided that having the technology out of the way is much, much more compelling than immersive AR, at least at this time."

I'm not really convinced by this. "Out of the way" means you have to switch focus every time you want to see your information, and then switch back afterwards. To me, this seems even more distracting, albeit less prone to clutter.

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#13

Post by nooneelse »

Cushman wrote: post #5

Some people who have interacted with Glass testers feel that sometimes people seem to temporarily drop out of a conversation to process something they see on the display. How does Glass avoid being something that removes us from our physical environment? My feeling is that this effect might fade away as people become more used to the device. Anyone who wears glasses can tell you that the first time you put them on, t…

Even phones have silent and vibrate modes. I don't know why anyone would assume HUDs can't have similarly minimal modes. Instead of an icon indicating email constantly there at the edge of vision (possibly annoying or distracting like a gnat), in "don't distract me" mode, maybe you only see icons, or possibly better still just simple colored dots, when you tilt your head back.

Also of use might be some way for the device to show to other people (not the user) that it isn't distracting the user at the moment. So it doesn't give off a "they aren't paying attention to me" vibe. Perhaps just normal light leakage, or lack thereof, while the display is active/not will be enough for this signal.

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#14

Post by karpathy »

At the risk of sounding silly a few years from now, I'll draw connection to when personal computers were first coming out. It was hard to predict all the uses we have today, and spreadsheets were thought to be one of the killer apps. Similarly, photos and sharing is the obvious killer app with Glass right now, but that's because it's very hard to see that far ahead. I can't wait to see what masses of developers will come up with once it's out for a while.

Further in the future, the device will likely shrink to, or work with a contact lens. At this point, this is not even a question of science, but of engineering [1].

[1] http://wireless.ee.washington.edu/papers/Lingley_JMMNov2011....

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#16

Post by praxulus »

podperson wrote: post #2

I'd suggest they design the device as something that clips on to spectacles. I don't see why anyone would wear this thing if they weren't going to wear spectacles (why have the whole stupid frame?) and it's not going to work for spectacle wearers (which is a lot of us). As for the comment about making something that doesn't come between the user and the physical world -- how about not using this device? I think it's…

I think the problem is that it's too big. Until they can shrink it down more, it's more likely they'll attach lenses to glass, rather than glass to frames.

>As for the comment about making something that doesn't come between the user and the physical world -- how about not using this device?

It's less intrusive than pulling out your phone to take a picture while playing with your kids.

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#17

Post by tomkarlo »

astrodust wrote: post #11
Groxx wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Segways would need parking / secure storage, or lots more upper body strength on the average person to get them up stairs. Costly physical barriers to widespread use. Something like this pretty much just needs something to charge from. Like your computer while you work, and the wall while you sleep, from a USB port perhaps (which you already have). Not making any claims as to which are more useful / applicable to mor…

I can imagine people wearing headsets like that all the time would cause innumerable problems. They'll be like bluetooth headsets. Reserved for a very specific subset of the population.

You're assuming that you'll even be able to tell who's wearing one rather than regular glasses. Look at the change in form factors of MP3 players and phones over the past 10 years, and then look at where they're _starting_ from with these. No reason they couldn't be nearly invisible by the time they hit widespread use.

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#18

Post by astrodust »

tomkarlo wrote: post #17
astrodust wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can imagine people wearing headsets like that all the time would cause innumerable problems. They'll be like bluetooth headsets. Reserved for a very specific subset of the population.

You're assuming that you'll even be able to tell who's wearing one rather than regular glasses. Look at the change in form factors of MP3 players and phones over the past 10 years, and then look at where they're _starting_ from with these. No reason they couldn't be nearly invisible by the time they hit widespread use.

You'll be able to spot those people because they're always walking into things or muttering voice commands to nobody in particular.

Don't tell me you can't spot someone with a portable music player from a hundred feet away. If anything the visibility of those has increased as the popularity of over-sized headphones has grown.

Re: Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm’

#20

Post by tomkarlo »

astrodust wrote: post #18
tomkarlo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're assuming that you'll even be able to tell who's wearing one rather than regular glasses. Look at the change in form factors of MP3 players and phones over the past 10 years, and then look at where they're _starting_ from with these. No reason they couldn't be nearly invisible by the time they hit widespread use.

You'll be able to spot those people because they're always walking into things or muttering voice commands to nobody in particular. Don't tell me you can't spot someone with a portable music player from a hundred feet away. If anything the visibility of those has increased as the popularity of over-sized headphones has grown.

Can you spot someone with a hearing aid from ten feet away? Not these days.
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