Google has captured many imaginations with Project Glass, and the device will not even be available to consumers until next year at the earliest. Wearing a Google Glass in front of your eye may be your ticket to a futuristic world you never thought you’d live to see, and it could do some really amazing things. Or it could be a huge disappointment, and bring back feelings you experienced when Nintendo’s Virtual Boy came out years ago.
Either way, one thing seems clear. To users of Google Glass, Google is going to be more up close and personal than ever before. That not only means Google pushing things in front of your eye, but potentially also users sending things back to Google.
What do you think about Google Glass? Do you want Google seeing what you see? Let us know in the comments.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin reportedly posted a limited Google+ update to those who ordered the special “Explorer Edition” of Glass, which developers were able to do at Google I/O last month. He included the above image, and said:
I wanted to share this photo with you that I took on a drive in Montana. I was testing a new mode of Glass which automatically takes a picture every 10 seconds without any distraction or disruption. Afterwards, I checked Instant Upload to see how the images had turned out and this one really caught my eye – I love the composition of the landscape mixed with sunlight and the beauty of the sky. I never would have captured this moment without Glass.
Think about that for a second. You’re wearing Google Glass, and Google is able to take pictures rapidly (who’s to say that can’t get it down to even less time than 10 seconds), and they’re instantly uploaded to Google’s servers. This is effectively Google storing the world as seen through your eyes.
Presumably, users would have to enable this functionality, just as they do with instant upload for Google+ on their mobile devices, but this could creep out some of those more worried about privacy. On the other hand, I’m not sure how many, who are that worried about privacy, will be willing to put Google on their faces to begin with.
The feature could have some pretty powerful ramifications though. Consider the possibilities that Google could come up with. For example, imagine if Google combined the technology with its search by image technology, and/or Knowledge Graph. You could be walking down the street getting all kinds of information in near realtime about the area you’re in, based on the photos that have been uploaded in the background from your field of vision, and Google’s search index matching the imagery with relevant information, places, maps, etc.
Google wants to get to know your every day routines with Google Now. I can’t imagine what kind of patterns Google would be able to piece together by simply seeing the world through your eyes. That could lead to the kind of personalization that we’ve never seen before.
Just in case you haven’t paid attention to Google Glass, you might want to start with these two videos. The first is just the initial promo concept video. The second one is real.
Check out our extensive Project Glass coverage here.
Do you like the idea of instantly uploading the things you see? Tell us what you think in the comments.