Live data from Hacker News

Intel made smart glasses that look normal

theverge.com

251–260 of 263 posts

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#251
post #148
post #112

I think there's definitely a market for endurance athletes. Runners and cyclists would like to see time, speed, distance, cadence, power output, navigation, etc without having to look down at a wristwatch or bike computer. Those people are accustomed to spending a lot on sports equipment. There are existing products like the Everysight Raptor and Garmin Varia View but they're bulky or goofy looking or obstruct vision…

I agree in general that it would be useful in these situations. As someone who wears glasses, I find it impossible to run with them because of the movement or them just falling off. Are people who wear glasses able to run with them - am I doing something wrong?

Try cyclist glasses. I run with Rudy project rydon and it stays on with no goofy strap.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#252
post #5
post #2

Oh yeah, that swipe gesture looks so natural... Now in addition to people talking out loud alone on the streets, people checking their notifications on their watch and phones at dinner, we'll have people looking at your teeth doing weird eye and head motions when you talk to them...

I can't help but think wearable computers aren't going to become viable until we further refine brain computer interfaces.

or maybe just brains

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#253
post #237

I can't help but think of how much more productive a factory worker or repairman would be with these glasses, if it were possible to display instructions, dimensions, parts of a reference manual, etc... The first successful business in the "glasses with HUD" space will be one that targets businesses which manufacture complex things using human beings.

If you can display it on that tiny ass screen you could probably just program a machine to do it. Sounds like a business that wouldnt last long.

A machine that walks into a hotel to service an elevator?

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a subtle but important difference between trusting someone doesn't have a hidden camera pointed at you and recording vs trusting someone to not have the camera that is on their face and pointed at you currently recording. Ultimately, yes, people have been able to take hidden photographs for a very long time. I think the concern is normalizing the removal of 90% of the steps involved in doing so.

As a thought experiment, what I'd like you to do tomorrow, is the first stranger you see spend 30 seconds staring at them. Not discretely, square on staring at them, keeping your head ideally still to prevent (hypothetical) camera jitter. You'll quickly discover why effectively no one that owns heads mounted devices has ever used them to take video of consenting people (ignoring the fact that why bother anyway, when…

I don't think the camera angle matters here. If I am talking to somebody with a camera on their face, wondering whether they are recording or not becomes a constant concern.

Having shaky or off-centered video of me is still video of me.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#255
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understand (I'd love to be wrong here) we have currently no AR or VR technology which could conceivably be used to work with a lot of text. The resolution is not there and it's possible that it won't ever be. Which is a damn shame, because I'd sell my kidney for the ability to work with two decently sized (virtual) displays from my couch or in the garden...

I'm intrigued by the 'possibly never will be' part, any references or reading on that?

I can answer a little. It's a problem of the conjunction of providing enough resolution that the screen is useful while having a large enough viewing angle. If I want to replicate the screen for my Surface Book, 3kx2k, at normal working distance that screen takes up about 1/5th of my working vision (that being the area my glasses cover which is a majority of my whole field of view and as much as I could expect of a non-contacts AR solution). So to render that screen and be able to place it inside the normal working field of view any AR glasses would need to have a resolution of about 5-6x whatever screen you want to duplicate, and this number gets worse as we talk about replicating TV screens which are further away and thus need even higher resolution to look the same.

It's a problem of being able to pack that many pixels onto the tiny screen area of a glasses based AR solution and then being able to process and render that in a mobile form factor. It's a hard problem to solve to say the least.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#256

Interesting that they chose red as the display color. One of the co-creators of Google Glass said that they initially all thought red would be good, but after trying different colors the consensus was that it was terrible. This was because there wasn't enough contrast with the background environment. It sounds like Intel's tech is fundamentally different—they paint your retina with a laser—and this may make the backg…

>> Google Glass said that they initially all thought red would be good, but after trying different colors the consensus was that it was terrible

They should have looked at a larger sample size. Red is used in rangefinder viewfinders for over 30+ years. Leica M240 has red and white as options. Red is by far the best from all standpoints - contrast, legibility and versatility.

Red dot sights are used in firearms and they are also by far superior to any other color.

I am doubtful of Google engineers and whether they put enough thought into exploring colors by using a larger sample size or cross checking different industries.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#257
> Using a Vaunt display is unlike anything else I’ve tried. It projects a rectangle of red text and icons down in the lower right of your visual field.

Interesting choice of location -- I would have thought it would be better to put it somewhere above the normal field of view, as most people tend to look up when thinking and trying to recall something. The kind of information smart glasses offer seems like it could be more naturally accessed that way.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#258
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Would you love that camera if it was pointed at you? I'm pretty sure humanity is already past the point where this question is timely. We have many cameras watching us all day long and ten years from now there will be even more. For what it's worth, maybe this will finally teach people to thing before they act.

> I'm pretty sure humanity is already past the point where this question is timely. We have many cameras watching us all day long and ten years from now there will be even more. Really? Do you have cameras looking at you all day at work? Or at home, while interacting with your family? I hope not. I also hope that you'd object to any attempts to put such a device. It's true that society by and large accepts CCTV camer…

>Really? Do you have cameras looking at you all day at work? Or at home, while interacting with your family? I hope not. I also hope that you'd object to any attempts to put such a device.

Okay, this was a generalization and exaggeration on my part (to a certain extent that is), but at the same time - how many cameras (notebook, smartphone etc) do you have at home at any give time? At the office? Security cameras are everywhere, any modern business center have dozens of them on each floor.

>That's just dystopian.

Sounds dystopian. And you don't need to equip everyone with them. Police, CCTV, transport (busses, taxis etc) will cover most of it. http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-china-42248056/in-your... - this will be everywhere soon enough.

>that's like saying that since children are most likely to be abused at home, then we should outlaw parenting, and have the state raise all kids using only state-certified™ personnel.

Two differenct things here. If we are to compare those to IT support - parenting is the last line of support (in fact parents are the developers in this case). But you also need to make sure that kids who happen to be born into a bad family\neighbourhood also behave. Yes, you shouldn't just put a collar on them, but instead try to help them somehow - that's the 2nd line of support. 1st line of support is the CCTV's AI that will monitor them to keep things under control.

In other words - I'm not trying to say that one should be replaced by the other.

>potential for abuse

This risk in always out there. Gun control, police, drug stores you name it.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. :) I imagine you have better front desk security than the places I've worked! I'd still argue that the majority of workers are under surveillance, at least in cities.

Of all the financial tech firms I know in London, only one has cameras on its staff. None of the non-financial tech workers I know have cameras on them all day. I don’t know if my anecdotes are enough to extrapolate and generalise from, but yours are enough to ensure I stay on this side of the pond.

I think I should have put "all day long" in quote in my original comment.

This is an exaggeration for sure, I just wanted to say that when you can been seen on the screen while commuting to work, while walking in the street, walking through the business center etc - this is basically "all day long" in my book.

Re: Intel made smart glasses that look normal

#260
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Would you love that camera if it was pointed at you? I'm pretty sure humanity is already past the point where this question is timely. We have many cameras watching us all day long and ten years from now there will be even more. For what it's worth, maybe this will finally teach people to thing before they act.

This is a common tactic in normalizing stuff people are uncomfortable with "its already been that way for X years why are you complaining now". Besides the fact this statement is inaccurate (there are not infact security cameras everywhere, footage is not centralized and analyized by huge powerful parties), It in no way somehow justifies the situation as it stands, or will stand if these become popular.

>there are not infact security cameras everywhere, footage is not centralized and analyized by huge powerful parties

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-china-42248056/in-your...

You just wait.

>there are not infact security cameras everywhere

Well, depending on where you live of course. You won't find a single one in Somali most likely.

Anyway, as I've already said - I'm not trying to justify anything.

Post reply on HN