(UPDATE 2017: Google said goodbye to Google Glass in 2015.)
There has been a lot of hype around Google Glass in recent weeks since the search giant created that very cool Skydiving video showing an example of how G.G. could be used in real life. It certainly gave the mobile world something to talk about, and has also proved that yes, this is indeed a thing that will happen. We are actually going to get augmented reality glasses and they’re probably going to land next year for the general public after Google has done some fairly extensive testing of the Glasses this year, although the developer kits are already being snapped up eagerly.
Clearly, after 5 years of touchscreen smartphones moving to become the “norm” rather than the innovation, our fast moving market is looking for the next big thing, and wearable, connected tech is seemingly just that. With Pebble, the now confirmed iWatch and Google Glass on the way to us all soon, it seems very likely we’re all going to be wearing smart devices as well as just carrying them around in the near future.
But unlike Pebble and other smartwatches, Google Glass is looking to set off not just an evolution of the wearable tech market, but a revolution. Having an always accessible, always on ability to instantly update yourself of what’s going on in the world, and also to update your friends with what you’re doing is something that we’ve had before with smartphones yes, but having it ready and primed, looking at what you’re looking at, that’s a little different. Google Glass seeks to not just make it easy to access and create information, but to integrate the user into the data stream itself.
Of course to do this they need those all important things that keep the mobile world turning: Apps!
So far Google have only released details of a few apps, but what’s there, whilst not surprising, certainly gives a good feel of what Google is aiming at with G.G.
Everything is done through “Timeline cards” similar to the Google Now cards that we currently have on Jelly Bean, with short, succinct bursts of information being pushed to your peripheral vision. Essentially the easiest way to think of this system is imaging a more expansive version of the notification centre that drops information you’re interested in straight to your view.
The apps revealed so far definitely are within keeping of this central idea, with Gmail being the pride of place, being able to drop notifications of new e-mails to you, but also allowing control of which emails you’re alerted to and when. There was a New York Times app recently shown off as well, which send you customized headline updates, and using the “Look up” gesture you can expand the headline to see a photo and can read the article to you as well.
Evernote are there too, letting you take pictures and save them to Skitch and Path is also announced, letting you and your friends share photos and send photo notifications.
Of course these are just some examples of what Google Glass can do, and with developer kits going out now, we’re sure to see some very exciting examples of how to use this technology in ways that smartphones can’t do. It’s too early to tell just what consumer demand will push techology like GG to become, but there’s a danger that companies like Facebook are going to see Glass as a way to have their own apps plastered literally to your face the entire time. There seems to be a general feeling right now that Google Glass could act as gateway to an overwhelming amount of information being pushed to us that we can’t manage effectively.
Time shall tell though, and more importantly, it’s up to you, the app developers to solve the problems that these technologies create, and if you can do it well you may be onto a winner.