What is Google
Glass?
Google Glass is the
name for a type of wearable computer created by the Google's Project Glass.
These futuristic glasses provide augmented reality for users by visually
connecting them to an Android-run heads up display that offers many of the
features of an Android spmartphone and connects users to many of Google's key
cloud features, such as maps, calendar, Gmail, Google+ and Google Places.
In April 2012,
Project Glass launched a Google+ page and revealed that Google researchers were
testing the technology and hoped to have it on the market in the near future.
Google expects the technology to cost about as a much as a smartphone.
Google Glass provide an experience known as augmented reality,
where images are superimposed over what the user sees in real life. With Google
Glass, these images are generally icons that provide directions, alert users to
messages from contacts or give weather updates.
Although this technology's potential has been praised as a
futuristic way to deliver hands-free computing, critics have pointed out its
ability to distract walkers or drivers and questioned its utility for those who
already wear corrective eyeglasses.
Google glasses are
sometimes called Google goggles, although is is inaccurate because Google
Goggles is actually a separate Google project that uses images - rather than
text or voice commands to conduct a search.
How do they work?
First, let's talk
about the contraption that's been drawing all that attention. The glasses, as
you can clearly see, are not like your typical spectacles. Inside the right arm
are the parts of a smartphone-- a processor, 16GB of storage, a Bluetooth
radio, a small battery and more.
On the front, you have that star of the show -- a small little
glass square. That's the screen, and when you put the glasses on you can adjust
them so that it sits slightly above the top of your right eye. If worn right it
really doesn't obscure your line of vision. No, I haven't been walking into
walls. In fact, when I picked up my Glass, a Google employee (or Glass Guide)
fit me for them and showed me how to slightly glance up to see the screen. You
can also adjust or swivel that screen when you have it on to bring it closer in
or out from your eye (If you're a leftie and wondering why everything is on the
right side, it's a good question. Google doesn't have plans at the moment to
make a left-sided pair; it says most people are right-eye dominant).
The glasses pair with your phone to get connectivity. There is
iPhone support now for some functions, but Android support is much deeper.
Using the Android MyGlass app you can configure the connection and even use a
Screencast feature, which mirrors the Glass display on the phone. (An iPhone
app is coming, though Google wouldn't give me a firm timeframe on when.) You
pair them with your phone via Bluetooth and if you have Bluetooth tethering you
can use your phone's 3G or 4G connection. If you don't, you can connect both
the Glass and the phone to WiFi. Without connectivity, you can still take
photos and video, though.
To the right of that glass box is a 5-megapixel camera. There's
a button on the top of the glasses for taking photos, but the easiest way to control
that camera is with your voice.
How
do you control them?
And
your voice is one of the two modes of controlling Glass. You can navigate the
screen either through voice commands or by using the trackpad on the right arm
of the glass. That entire arm is touch-sensitive: sliding your finger on it
allows you to move through the Glass interface and tapping once on it lets you
make selections.
You also have two choices of how you
can wake up the glasses: Tap on that arm, or tilt your head back. Tipping your
head back looks incredibly awkward but it's one of the easiest ways to get the
glasses' attention. Similarly, it looks very odd
when you talk to the glasses or yourself, but it is one of the easiest ways to
get to some of the basic functions. All you have to do is say aloud,
"O.K., Glass, take a picture" and the glasses will snap a photo.
"O.K., Glass, Google ABC News" and you'll get some basic news results
on the screen.
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