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Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

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Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#211

Post by jrockway »

marshallp wrote: post #168
danilocampos wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite so! I'm very excited to head on down to my Google dealership and pick one-- Oh. There's a huge difference between a research project and a shipping product. I'm most excited for this development as well, but I'll be withholding my acclaim until they actually deliver it. So far, all of this stuff is an elaborate Montessori school science project.

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…

Mountain View is the second most expensive city in the country? I wonder where LA and Chicago rank...

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#212

Post by eneveu »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #53

I don't know whether to be encouraged or disturbed by the notion of having wearable cameras become socially acceptable. On one hand, I would think this could be a major crime deterrent - the idea of a "witness" could become quaint as any crime could easily be captured with a time/location stamp. But it could also be a major altering of norms. Are women comfortable with the idea that any guy looking at them on the str…

That was my first thought. It would be hard to relax when you know that everything you do may be recorded... The bad joke I just made? My attempt at dancing? Expressing your feelings on a bad day? A date gone wrong?

With social networks and internet, managing one's "online identity" and privacy is increasingly important. Everything you say online might be stored and retrieved later. It's hard enough when you are an adult. But what about kid/teenn, who is still trying to find his identity, and might say things that he regrets later on?

What happens when real life is logged?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#213

Post by jrockway »

APuschilov wrote: post #186
jokermatt999 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Given that Google is not about search anymore but about Google all those acquisitions make sense. Now Google totally controls the biggest assets online (not counting facebook). They could also know as much now as they would like to know about you to give them, data-wise, more than just a controlling position online. So the seperate entities don't even have to be profitable if they generate enough data exhaust for the…

Google is not just about data collection, though data collection does help improve products (think distributed spam filtering). Most Google products exist because someone at Google thought people would like them. Making money is good, but not a primary concern. It seems crazy from the outside, but really, developers at Google are not sitting around trying to figure out how to build a huge and scary profile about you. We just want to play with fun things.

(Yes, that generates a lot of data, and we do use a lot of that data for things that might not thrill you, like targeting ads. But ultimately, a lot of companies know a lot about you, and few try to be as transparent about it as Google does. At least you can stop giving Google data. Try to opt out of the credit reporting system.)

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#214

Post by ilaksh »

mladenkovacevic wrote: post #2

Youtube promo of how it might work (is this for real or just a concept? looks too good to be true) http://youtu.be/9c6W4CCU9M4

I want to know what it actually does and what it actually looks like at this point in time. How about a video of that?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#215

Post by jrockway »

marshallp wrote: post #192
jokermatt999 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Google has a competitive edge in search because of it's data. All their other so-called successes are based directly off that (either in user share or because they have the big bucks to bankroll it). Take a look at other tech companies, they've created fortunes based on almost nothing * apple, consumer electronics that anyone could do * amazon, selling stuff online that anyone could do * oracle, selling databases whe…

Another example of business cluelessness, they're not flexing their patent muscles.

It's worth noting that Google's prospectus [1] as filed with the SEC says that Google will always pursue long-term opportunities even if they hurt Google in the short term. Patents are an example here; Google could sue all of its "competitors" out of existence today, but would that really benefit Google in the long term? Would you work at Google if they were the company that put every tech startup out of business with "method for computing the sum of two integer" patents? Probably not. So aggressive patent lawsuits are not what Google's shareholders want. And doing what the shareholders want is not exactly "business cluelessness" :)

[1] http://www.buec.udel.edu/pollacks/Acct351/handouts/SEC%20For...

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#216

Post by ghshephard »

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…

Well, I guess "autonomous vehicles" were a solved problem the same way "portable music devices" or "smart phones" or "Tablet Computers" were a solved problem. But it takes _someone_ to push the concept over and move the category forward.

In all three categories (particularly portable music devices) - I would argue that Apple didn't so much as make the technology possible, as it did make them _popular_.

Likewise, with a autonomous vehicle - it isn't so much building a car that can drive itself - it's making a car that can drive itself _that I can buy_ that I get excited about.

Of course, Google has yet to deliver on the part about me buying them - but can you identify any other company that has done so much to get them driving on roads _with other people_?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#219

Post by DasIch »

cookingrobot wrote: post #156
DasIch wrote: post #6

Augmented reality glasses, self-driving cars... Google is becoming a really exciting and interesting company. It will be interesting to see how Apple will react to this given that they are the ones claiming to revolutionize consumer technology every couple of years.

My prediction for Apple is that they'll do glasses, but will be much less ambitious and will do it's job well. Specifically I think they'll drop the camera and AR stuff. Just have a heads up display for IMs and track names so you can read messages and find music while walking. Cheaper and easier to polish, and builds on what people already do.

I very much doubt that. Glasses restrict your field of vision, your movements and change the appearance and thereby the way others see you. No one wants to wear a pair of glasses just as an additional display for your smartphone you are too lazy to take out of your pocket, the cost is just too high.

However the display part doesn't really matter, what really matters is ubiquitous environmental recognition, voice recognition - not just of yourself but of everyone around you, no matter which languages they are currently speaking - and (three dimensional) image recognition. This will completely change how people interact and explore the world and each other.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#220

Post by joshz »

beatle wrote: post #157
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.

Driverless cars. Google Glasses. The CEO's job is to allocate resources to initiatives that will make the company money. NOT to fool around with worthless projects like driver less cars and glasses that are just complete waste of money and resources. Shouldn't they be spending time and money fixing Android and the Android market place?

The effect of a driverless car isn't necessarily that it drives itself. It's a car that's aware of its surroundings and provides feedback to the driver. Mercedes already implemented collision avoidance, driverless car can potentially prevent running over curbs, pedestrians or provide better control. In any case, lack of innovation is a pretty easy way eventually lose ground.
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