Google Urges Google Glass Users To Stop Being Weird, Ordinary Human Beings
from the I'm-a-creep dept
Google initially loved the fact that the strange appearance of the not-really-available-at-market Google Glass gets weird looks when people walk down the street wearing it. But as the novelty has worn off in recent months, the company has apparently grown concerned that the product's target market of young nerds with oodles of disposable income might not be quite the sexy brand ambassadors they had hoped. As such, the company recently released a list of dos and don'ts for participants in the Google Glass Explorer program. Among them -- don't stop and think, or stare dreamily at the ceiling while using Google Glass:"(Don't) Glass-out. Glass was built for short bursts of information and interactions that allow you to quickly get back to doing the other things you love. If you find yourself staring off into the prism for long periods of time you're probably looking pretty weird to the people around you. So don't read War and Peace on Glass. Things like that are better done on bigger screens."Yeah, don't read books, weirdo! Google also would like it if Glass users would stop being odd in any way immediately, as being "creepy and rude" -- or just an ordinary run-of-the-mill hostile jackass -- won't get people excited about that unavailable product attached to your face:
"(Don't) Be creepy or rude (aka, a "Glasshole"). Respect others and if they have questions about Glass don't get snappy. Be polite and explain what Glass does and remember, a quick demo can go a long way. In places where cell phone cameras aren't allowed, the same rules will apply to Glass. If you're asked to turn your phone off, turn Glass off as well. Breaking the rules or being rude will not get businesses excited about Glass and will ruin it for other Explorers."Initially there might have been interesting marketing opportunities created by the confusion of seeing someone with a $1,500 plastic computer on their face, but as the novelty wears off, the product stops selling itself, and Glass wearers have been left relying on their charisma (or lack thereof) in their role as inadvertent sales agents. Google obviously wants to limit the amount of bans on Glass by establishments, but perhaps you're asking just a tad much of your customers -- and of yourself as a company -- if you actually believe you have the power to manage the normal personal peculiarities of your seemingly-endless beta participants.
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Filed Under: augmented reality, google glass
Companies: google
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Smart Glasses are inevitable
But you know, that was like in the early days of Books. Telephones. Electric lights. Automobiles. Radio. Pocket calculators. Digital Watches. Personal computers. Cell phones. Bluetooth earpieces. Smart phones. Tablet computers.
Each of these things started expensive. Limited benefits, especially for the cost. Benefits enough for those with money. Gradually affordable to everyone. Then common place. Then cheap and ubiquitous. Remember, at one point, toothbrushes, ball point pens, combs, and cigarette lighters were expensive items. There was only one toothbrush per household. Now these items are common and even disposable. Even basic pocket calculators that were very expensive are now fifty cents in blister packs in a bin during fall 'back to school days'. Same with transistor radios. I guarantee you that smart phones, and tablet computers will get to this point. It is inevitable.
I think that smart glasses and smart watches are just not at the stage yet. But they will get there. Believe it. Or not. But it is inevitable. The benefits are enough that eventually the oddballs will be people who DO NOT have these everyday commonplace items.
Like a Luddite with no: toothbrush, comb, pen, radio, mobile phone or PC.
aside: but some would argue that tech would not exist without Big Content, but that is a different mental illness for another time.
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Re: Smart Glasses are inevitable
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It's pretty much like this already. Many of the most useful things for glass require this already. Glass can't do SMS or GPS, for instance, and you need to connect it to a different device via Bluetooth to get that functionality.
My prediction is that in the end, we'll see competing devices like Glass that are just another Bluetooth device with minimal smarts of their own. Those are what I'm waiting for.
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Re: Possible Professional Use
Have a portable technical reference is very useful for identifying energy saving opportunities. If that tech reference is only a few ounces and a few words away, that makes a lot of sense. Pulling up a schematic diagram of an air handler or a chilled water plant as you trace out piping makes understanding what you're looking at a easier. If you record notes, take photos, and short videos as you go, you're that much closer to a well-documented findings report you can hand to a building owner, operator, or contractor.
Of course, that requires a tech-savvy workforce, which I have to say is a rarity in MEP engineers. Sure, we know computers & amp meters, but when it gets to leveraging the most out of consumer electronics, we are - as a whole - laggards.
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Re: Re: Possible Professional Use
both semi-smart phones and tablets do these things already, (and - i would claim- better)...
i can see where the hands-free aspect could have some use for -say- a mechanic who actually has wrench in hand and is looking up the nut in question gets torqued at X ft-lbs, whatever...
i mean, i have no doubt that google goggles (really, that *should* have been the name) in some form will evolve to be useful, if not ubiquitous...
but, smart phones are ubiquitous NOW, but i bet 90-99% of the users are using them for angry birds, etc, and NOT field manuals of machinery, interface to systems, etc...
it is WAY overkill for most of the users doing stupid stuff...
(NOT that there is anything wrong with stupid stuff, but it isn't task/work related that contributes to REAL efficiencies in the workings of the world...)
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I think most are using them to get flappy bird, ultimately.
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There should be a very visible LED when it's filming that EVERYONE can see, and the camera should snap off the frames. And as the prev posted said, why not run the thing from a nearby smartphone ? Perhaps Bluetooth is not yet up to full bidirectional real time video...
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I suggest a lens cover for the camera, a covered lens is obviously not recording anything.
This concludes my armchair engineering for the day.
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If I wanted to film you I could conceal a camera in the button of my shirt.
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There is.
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"You want me to remove my Google Glass? Sure no problem, however you should be aware that they're my only glasses with prescription lenses in them and I'm blind as a bat without them. Could you please send someone over to read the menu to me? Oops, sorry I didn't mean to knock over the dessert cart! Oh, sorry, excuse me! Pardon me! Sorry miss, I'm sure the restaurant will be happy to provide you with a replacement bowl of soup and take care of your dry cleaning bill."
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Snappy/snippy
I'd say they can't help but be snappy in their uber-nerd eyewear... snappy dressers everywhere are jealous. But they should lay off the snippy responses.
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Why google glass will never work
1) What if you already wear glasses (like me)? You look and feel really stupid having 2 pairs of glasses on at once. And even if google has a way to make google glass double as your normal pair of glasses, it's expensive to craft the right lens, you need an eye doctor to get you the correct measurements.
2) Don't sit/stand too close to the TV or it'll hurt your vision. How many times have you been told this as a kid? I'm very skeptical that it's safe having a computer monitor less then an inch away from your eyes, and I can't possibly be the only one. I don't want to damage my eye sight even farther.
3) Glasses don't really fit when you first put them on. They need adjusted properly, otherwise they'll hurt your nose or the side of your head for being too tight, or fall off for being too loose. It's not always a simple task to adjust them just right either.
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Re: Why google glass will never work
2) Ah the good old days of CRT televisions. The whole don't sit too close to the television thing came about because the televisions of the time used electron streams to draw the pictures they displayed. This had the side effect of releasing ionizing radiation into the room, not enough to cause real damage even after a very long time of exposure but enough to make sitting right in front of it less healthy than sitting further back. Modern LCD and plasma displays don't have this problem. Additionally staring at an unmoving point for very long periods is not healthy but that's not what the glasses are, they keep the display in your vision even as you look around.
3)That's akin to saying a new car is difficult to get used to so no one will buy new cars. The market doesn't work like that. Even if it's not a simple task to adjust them it'll take a massive design flaw before that changes it's marketability at all.
All that said I'm not that excited about them, I'm curious how they'll do, but otherwise...meh
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Re: Why google glass will never work
No need. You can already get Glass on frames that can accommodate normal prescription lenses. The electronics are removable, too, so you can even switch to different frames if the mood fits you.
"Don't sit/stand too close to the TV or it'll hurt your vision. How many times have you been told this as a kid"
Lots of times, but it is and always has been bullshit.
"Glasses don't really fit when you first put them on."
Exactly like any other pair of glasses.
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Re: Why google glass will never work
Did you bother to think before you posted in the least?
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I don't see the problem...
And in general, telling people not to be creeps is fine by me in any case.
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Re: I don't see the problem...
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Re: Re: I don't see the problem...
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Simply try to buy one, There are none for sale. Technology exists, but is experimental yet and will be for a long time.
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Depends on what you mean by "a long time", I suppose. But I'm not sure why you consider the fact that this is still under development as a criticism. Google isn't saying this is a product currently on the market. It's under development.
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Google only thinks about its own image.
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Where is our favorite troll?
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Re: Where is our favorite troll?
That said, I have to say the quality of discourse has risen in their absence.
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glassholes...............Google Glass Voyeurism !
Stay away from me and from my friends.
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Perhaps you should reserve your ire for people who are actually doing things that you dislike, rather than just because they own a particular type of hardware.
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And market better! Like to me the best thing for it would be when you get pulled over. I'd love to have an account of the jerk off corrupt cop! They should give them all away just for that reason! Help try to curb the abuse they dish out daily!
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Also you do realise that Google is not required on your computer (unless you have a chromebook) you have the ability to NOT use any Google products and can even.. Shock horror use alternatives.
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To be fair to Google...
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In another time...
It's interesting to observe how in today's environment of abusive government activities, widespread mass surveillance, and heightened safety/privacy concerns, products like this are viewed with a very different perspective, and by different I don't mean rose-coloured.
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Clearly many of you do not even know how the device operates.
If you are taking a picture or capturing video, it will be obvious either through hand gestures (taps and swipes to the right side of the device) or voice commands. You could have it set up to take a picture by way of an exaggerated wink, bu you still need a tap to get it started.
I have found that it's easier for me to tilt my head back and say "OK, Glass, get me directions to [insert address]" and let it give e tur-by-turn directions via the device and not my phone. (With earbuds in my ear, I don't have to worry about noise from the road, vehicle or music interfering.) The map only shows up just before an intersection or turn, so it isn't overtly intrusive.
While I am driving, with just a tap, I can have it read a message or news story to me. Admittedly, the stunted voice of the computer is a bit jarring. But my ears are on the story, and my eyes on the road and traffic.
Maybe the problem with Glass is that people just don't know enough about how it works. If true, then perhaps the good folks at Google should spend more time educating us about what it is, and is not, than admonishing Geeks to not be Geeks.
(shrug)
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