Making Google Glass look less dorky (and a little less creepy)
Summary: I'm starting to like the idea of Google Glass, but I still think that there's a lot of work that needs to be done to make them look more natural. Here are a few designs that could help transform Google Glass from a design concept into something that would fit into day-to-day life.
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Introduction
I have to admit that when Google first unveiled its Glass wearable computer, I couldn't get past how dorky it looked. I couldn't see — no pun intended — how anyone would want to walk around and interact with others while they had a strange contraption attached to their heads.
But then, after a few days and a couple of beers, it dawned on me that Google Glass is just the latest in a long line of "things" that we've attached to out heads. Glasses, sunglasses, goggles, headphones, Bluetooth headsets, and more besides.
Attaching strange things to our heads is not a new concept.
That said, I still think Google Glass looks odd. Maybe it's because it has a sterile look, or maybe because it tries too hard to be invisible. While you might not draw attention to yourself wearing Glass in Silicon Valley, there aren't many other places on Earth where I feel that wearing a pair isn't going to cause people's heads to spin around so fast that they'd be at risk of snapping their own necks.
Nickolay Lamm and Mark Pearson, both of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, have risen to the challenge of making Google Glass looks look a little more acceptable. To do this, Lamm and Pearson took two different approaches.
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Talkback
She...
She looks futuristic....
DragonballZ
indeed...
Within 15 years Google Glass will be just a contact lens.
Just examples of my early March crystal ball gazing.
I can't expect privacy in a public place?
There has been a legality issue about video surveillance in a public area
The question is...
cell phone jammer.
will they guarantee
whatever the amount...
Glass benefits not yet realized
recording can easily be addressed in a future release with just a couple of
minor enhancements. Think of all the advantages this could technology could
bring.
Using timed, record-over, there would be no need for an off switch and therefore
no need to worry about surreptetious recording. Glass would be truly a hands-
free device. Imagine how helpful this would be for police investigating traffic
accidents. Insurance companies should like this.
Of course this also could be used to reduce crime as well. Glass witness
accounts would be much more accurate and reliable than eye-witness accounts.
This would obviously improve the efficiency of police investigations. With
increased efficiency comes reduced cost. Perhaps some of the savings could be
used to expand police services.
In addition to record-over, another enhancement such as real-time remote viewing
including GPS could help eliminate a lot of distracting cell calls in the car.
Often those call are little more than a "where are you?". A simple "I see what U
see" application would make these types of calls a thing of the past. People
could keep track of others with much less effort involved.
Imagine how effective remote viewing could be law enforcement, especially when a
new release of Glass could include night vision capability. With appropriate
pattern recognition software they may even be able to deter crime while it's
still in the planning phase. Until then, it would make it much easier to
determine the whereabouts of those who may be involved, or other persons of
interest.
there was a chip...
The govwrnment left it open to the people to decide weather to adopt the chip. You know what happened? Not a single person bought into the new chip. No one was willing to allow the government a free backdoor into any conversation thwy wanted.
If such a "backdoor" were included on google glass then no one would buy it. Google wouldn't shoot thwmselves in the foot like that. It would be financial suicide.
Clipper Chip
under the impression that your NSA, or other law enforcement agencies can still
do wiretaps. The chip was only to make people feel more secure. There never was
a need for a back door when the front door was open for national security. It
seems the same for Glass. Data is routed and tracked through ISP's. Google
wouldn't be part of that sort of monitoring.
I'm not in to paranoid thinking, but what seems strange to me, looking at it from the
outside (I'm Canadian), is that, there seemed to much more concern about fixed
camera surveillance, even though Glass has the potential to be much more invasive.
While it seems reasonable that we shouldn't expect rights to privacy to be the
same in public places as they are in private places, it is also true that Google
does blur license plates and faces in it's street view. Youtube will also honour
take down requests if your face appears in a video without your consent. In a
free society the law should not attempt to define acceptable moral or ethical
values, but should instead reflect those values.
it was called..
Stupid profanity checking.
If a word is in your effing dictionary, it doesn't need to be tested for profanity. Would that be
simple enough for a tech site to manage?
how it LOOKS?
so do you freak out when...
This is why we make a distinction between public and private places. The owner of a given piece of property may prohibit the use of recording devices on their property but no one can tell anyone to not take photos or record video in a public place.
You could say "don't record me", but in that situation the law would tell you that if you don't like the non illegal activities occuring in a public place then the right thing to do would be to remove yourself from the situation and stop in infringing on the rights of others in that pubplic place.
Now town ordinances may have provisions for such a scenario, but it would most likely be resteicted to parks or public transportation terminals.
At the end of the day, its not the man with the camera that's a problem, its you for thinking your opinion trumps his freedoms in a public place.