Only at Google 10 in techy-sawy San
Francisco could a Google Glass wearer walk the streets relatively unnoticed,
limited number of these new wearable computing J devices have been among the
public for months now, and they generally elicit double takes and curious
stares.
There were plenty of those lucky Glass
owners among the 10 crowd, as well as Google reps standing by to demonstrate
the technology. At the conference, we had the opportunity to try on Glass, and
unbox one of the kits passed out to select developers. Google Glass is an
attempt to free data from desktop computers and place it right in front of your
eyes.
Essentially, it’s a camera, display,
touchpad, battery and microphone built into spectacle frames so that you can
perch a transparent display in your field of vision, film, take pictures,
search and translate on the go. The principle is one that has been around for
years in science fiction, and more recently it’s become a slightly clunky
reality. So while the privacy paranoids worry about what it all means, let’s have
a goggle at Google Glass...
Google
glass
Just like a normal pair of glasses, Google
Glass needs just a bit of adjustment to be worn properly. It mainly comes down
to the nose pads, which make sure that Glass’ titanium band runs slightly above
the eye line, like a sunshade or visor.
That way, the rectangular screen, which
looks something like a prism, sits just above the eye. Using the screen
requires you to look up slightly, which helps to keep your field of vision
unobstructed.
Lighter than a pair of normal spectacles,
we imagine it would be easy to forget you were wearing them, if not for all the
stares.
Turning on Glass
Glass goes to sleep when not in use, and
you can wake it by simply nodding up. This isn’t just to save power, but to
keep your field of vision clear when you don’t need any info. Google reps said
that Glass’ battery would last all day with “average use” but we didn’t get
enough time to test that. Just like a smartphone, though, it has micro-USB for
charging, and lots of video recording will wear it down before the day is out.
Lighter
than a pair of normal spectacles, we imagine it would be easy to forget you
were wearing them, if not for all the stares
The Google Glass interface is a lot like
Google Now, which is found on any Android Jelly Bean smartphone. From the main
screen, saying “Okay, Glass,” gets the device’s attention, so to speak, and
prompts Glass to show you available commands. There are also Google Now cards -
screens of information related to recent searches.
They’re pretty minimalist, white text on a
black background, sometimes with a single image. We swiped through nearby
restaurants, email chains and Recendy captured pictures and videos. This is
done using a touchpad built into the right side of the headset. You can also
tap to make selections.
An extension of your smartphone
While Glass has its own 12GB flash memory,
Wi-Fi connection, GPS, and CPU, all working with Android 4.2, it works best as
an extension of your smartphone.
It can pair with an Android phone using
Bluetooth, which allows it to make calls as well as send and receive text
messages. In that way it felt more like the ultimate hands-free device than a
wearable computer.
It also suffers a similar stigma to the
Bluetooth earpiece, in that it’s distracting and a bit goofy looking.
Basically, you look like someone out of Star Trek. Whether that’s Geordi La
Forge or a Borg drone is in the eye of the beholder. The irony is that it is
technology designed for subdety that ends up speaking volumes.
It
can pair with an Android phone using Bluetooth, which allows it to make calls
as well as send and receive text messages
It talks back
Speaking of speaking, Google Glass can
actually talk to you. There’s a little speaker that sits over your right ear
which was completely audible to someone standing within earshot, providing the
room wasn’t too loud.
We asked Glass who the president of the
United States was, and it responded with a snippet of Barack Obama’s biography.
We had trouble hearing it over the din of the commotion around us, but moving
to a back room, it was perfectly audible, and spoke in the lady robot tones of
Google Now.
You also have to look up to read the
screen, so broken eye contact will be a dead giveaway. Your friends will know
when you’re checking football scores instead of listening to them.
It was also far less like augmented reality
than we’d imagined. Putting it on, we thought we would see a HUD of some sort,
like in a first-person shooter video game. Really though, we felt more like a
multitasking administrator than Robocop on patrol for creeps. Even the GPS
function just gives you a top down view, with a blue arrow representing your
location, just like Google Maps on your phone.
So is Glass cool and entirely novel? Yes,
it certainly is. Is it a device that will change the life of, or even just
prove useful to, the average consumer? That’s doubtful.
Google glass specs
Fit
·
Adjustable nosepads and durable frame fits any
face.
·
Extra nosepads in two sizes.
Display
·
High resolution display is the equivalent of a
25 inch high definition screen from eight feet away.
Camera
·
Photos - 5 MP
·
Videos - 720p
Audio
·
Bone Conduction Transducer
Connectivity
·
Wi-Fi - 802.11b/g
·
Bluetooth
Storage
·
12 GB of usable memory, synced with Google
cloud storage. 16 GB Flash total.
Battery
·
One full day of typical use. Some features,
like Hangouts and video recording, are more battery intensive.
Charger
·
Included Micro USB cable and charger.
·
While there are thousands of Micro USB
chargers out there, Glass is designed and tested with the included charger in
mind. Use it and preserve long and prosperous Glass use.
Compatibility
·
Any Bluetooth-capable phone.
·
The MyGlass companion app requires Android
4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher. MyGlass enables GPS and SMS messaging.
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