TECHNOLOGY: CHANGING IT'S "VISION"

                        Through The Google Glasses

It wasn’t a long time ago that new gadgets like smart phones, iPhone and iPad created a wave in technology. And these gadgets don’t come along very often. But if there is anything bold, beyond the horizon and is capable of changing the face of technology, surely it is google glasses (can’t be called glasses because there aren’t any lenses!!).

  These glasses look like a thin strip which is supported on ears and lies along eyebrow line. There is a small transparent block positioned above to the right side of the right eye which, of course, is the screen. On this screen (or a miniature computer) information, entertainment and this being a google product advertisement will be projected. The glasses use android software. These will be equipped with GPS and motion sensors. They will also contain a camera and audio inputs and outputs.

Location information is contemplated to be the major feature of these glasses. For instance, a person looking a landmark could see detailed information and comments left about it by friends and this is done by built-in camera on the glasses. The glasses reach the internet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth which connects the wireless service on the user’s cell phone. The glasses respond to voice commands given by the user, when he touches the frame or when he moves his head. To record a video the user has to say, “ok, glass, record a video”.

There is humorous aspect to this story also. It will look weird to the onlooker when people are wearing these glasses. The onlooker can’t see what is going on behind the glasses and can only see bizarre body language and people ducking and dodging around virtual things.

The shortcoming of theses glasses is that they are not stylish. And to prevent the fashion faux-pas google is working on a partnership with eyeglasses startup Warby Parker (the company whose website’s home page says sturdy, sensible and sophisticated).

The major issue which people are concerned about is the privacy issue. It is being said that this new technology will make us all agents of google. These glasses will act like video surveillance.  When someone is meeting a person for the first time, for example, Google could hypothetically match the person’s face and tell people how many friends they share in common on social networks!

Google has kept starting price of these glasses at $1500. It launched Google Explorer in which a person interested in buying these had to write an article on If I Had Google Glasses and upload it on twitter. Few lucky ones will be announced the proud owners of these pair of oh-so-awesome glasses by google. So let us wait and watch how well does google fair in capturing people’s minds by these google glasses.

SHRUTI THAKRE,

LITERARY MEMBER,

IBC.