We hope you had an information-free period during the holidays and only had to remember where you hid all your Easter eggs. To ease you back into our blog we found a refreshing new gadget during our toolhunt: Google Glasses.
Project Glass Design study: Monica – Photo from Google+
Google Glasses are Android-run augmented reality glasses which have been recently presented but are still being tested. Google promises you’ll be able to connect what you see in real life with what’s available on the web. The heads-up display adds digital content which could make your life more enjoyable, e.g. navigating through the city, comparing prices in brick & mortar shops and online, checking reviews, capturing and sharing fleeting moments. Also for work we can think of a few features that could come in handy, many of which already exist as apps for your smartphone. To make us dream of the many possibilities Google made this short video and shared it on Youtube.
It’s rumoured that Google will already start selling the augmented reality glasses this year for the cost of an average smartphone. Yet Google told Mashable that selling the glasses this year would be ‘extremely unlikely’. So you’ll have to wait at least a year or two before they can work out the kinks. However critics feel that what Google shows in the video is deceptive and nowhere near achievable. We’re also afraid that the spectacles pose a real threat to privacy. With always improving face-recognition being spread on a commercial basis you’ll soon have strangers coming up to you knowing your whole life story. Even taking into account other concerns mobile devices like Google Glasses raise, it looks like the attraction of immersive experiences will be difficult to temper.
Next Tools Tuesday we’ll go back to tried and tested tools … so we’ll see you tout de suite for a review of Hootesuite.
