Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#241

Post by dsl » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 1:40 AM UTC

modeless wrote: post #205

dsl wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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 don't think anyone would dispute the fact that the sensory processing isn't to human levels yet. The advancements that have been made are in different types of sensing devices that eliminate the need for heavy post-processing of data (image pattern recognition, etc) in software.

I do give credit to Google for making it happen, both as an integrator, and in lobbying efforts. But there is a lot of standing on the shoulders of giants, in comparison to pure software fields where they have made huge industry disrupting shifts (like BigTable, GFS, etc).

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#242

Post by marshray » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 1:42 AM UTC

moe wrote: post #234

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That still sounds silly. If you have the muscle of Google, wouldn't you get the legal ball rolling first, so that when your car is ready, you can sell immediately? Does a driverless car even count as basic research that they can spin off into a consumer product?

I think you're simplifying a little. A driverless car is not just another car. It's not a fancy smartphone. It's a paradigm shift that will reshape society and erase tens of thousands of jobs in a relatively short timeframe. And it's one of the rare cases where you can actually predict and quantify these consequences with relatively good accuracy. I'd assume quite a few parties (read: all of them) will want to have a…

ISTR people saying that about the Segway.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#243

Post by malandrew » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 1:43 AM UTC

Foy wrote: post #189

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 why government regulation can be healthy. Ideally, ad replacement like what you described would be illegal. In a purely capitalist world it would be encouraged. Apologies for getting political. But you paint an all-too-possible picture that's worryingly dystopic.

I personally wish that outdoor ads visible from public places were illegal like they are in São Paulo. Outdoor advertising is visual pollution that has been placed over the World so slowly that most people don't realize the problem because they don't have a point of reference to compare to and be outraged.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#244

Post by moe » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 1:44 AM UTC

marshray wrote: post #242

moe wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're simplifying a little. A driverless car is not just another car. It's not a fancy smartphone. It's a paradigm shift that will reshape society and erase tens of thousands of jobs in a relatively short timeframe. And it's one of the rare cases where you can actually predict and quantify these consequences with relatively good accuracy. I'd assume quite a few parties (read: all of them) will want to have a…

ISTR people saying that about the Segway.

You're not seriously comparing the segway to driverless vehicles?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#245

Post by marshray » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 1:47 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…

Could your "solved problem" vehicles reliably tell the difference between a kid running into the street and a empty garbage bag blown in the wind?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#246

Post by marshray » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 1:58 AM UTC

Foy wrote: post #185

dpark wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single one of those things is faster and easier if handled automatically. Ask the bookseller where to find a book? I don't do that now unless I've looked for the book myself and failed to find it, because it makes me feel lazy, and because it's not always easy to find someone without going to the cashier. Ask someone for directions? People suck at giving directions, and they're slow at giving those bad directio…

Here, here! I think that as the way information is handled transforms and evolves the world will have to adapt. I suspect getting floor plans of each and every store where these glasses operate wouldn't be feasible so having staff around to point people to specific books may still be useful. But I strongly believe that we shouldn't shun a new technology on the basis that it renders a current job useless. Just think o…

> Imagine if someone from the 1800's could visit 2050. He might assume we are all extremely high-functioning schizophrenics.

Remember that movie 'Time After Time'? HG Wells and Jack the Ripper both visit the 1980's. Guess who fit in better? :-)

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#247

Post by stcredzero » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 2:13 AM UTC

Only a matter of time before someone implements something along the lines of "Girls Around Me" for this thing, only it would be "Girl I'm Looking At."

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#248

Post by pinchyfingers » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 2:23 AM UTC

Foy wrote: post #189

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 why government regulation can be healthy. Ideally, ad replacement like what you described would be illegal. In a purely capitalist world it would be encouraged. Apologies for getting political. But you paint an all-too-possible picture that's worryingly dystopic.

Wrong. In a purely capitalist world, you can choose to avoid the product or use a competing product, or pay more for a premium service without ads.

Thinking that government regulation can be healthy is a horribly naive and extremely dangerous idea.

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#249

Post by ConstantineXVI » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 2:25 AM UTC

marshray wrote: post #242

moe wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're simplifying a little. A driverless car is not just another car. It's not a fancy smartphone. It's a paradigm shift that will reshape society and erase tens of thousands of jobs in a relatively short timeframe. And it's one of the rare cases where you can actually predict and quantify these consequences with relatively good accuracy. I'd assume quite a few parties (read: all of them) will want to have a…

ISTR people saying that about the Segway.

Driverless cars would more or less kill an entire job category overnight. Who wouldn't want a truck driver that doesn't make wrong turns, doesn't get distracted, forget to gas up, doesn't need to sleep, eat, or be paid (as much)?

Re: Google Begins Testing Its Augmented Reality Glasses

#250

Post by marshray » Thu, Apr 05, 2012, 2:30 AM UTC

moe wrote: post #244

marshray wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ISTR people saying that about the Segway.

You're not seriously comparing the segway to driverless vehicles?

Nah, I'm just comparing that bit of hyperbole.

Like the "paradigm shift" that was to be the Segway, what problem does this solve exactly?