Finally, a non-dystopian use for Google Glass

March 31, 2019 4:39 AM

In a study published in JAMA Pediatrics, children on the autism spectrum who had difficulty interpreting the emotional content of facial expressions got an assist from Google Glass. CBC interviewed one of the researchers.

Highlights from the recorded interview: Children described the help with interpreting facial expressions as being like having "a superpower"; the lowest-functioning child in the study saw the greatest improvement.

posted by clawsoon (6 comments total)

I feel like Glass got a raw deal as a piece of assistive tech, which it could have been great at, rather than something a sociable human would wear as a matter of course, which OMG no. I was in SF when Google was trying to run that faux grassroots marketing push by having pretty people walk around purposefully while wearing it, and even then it was weird and awkward.

I’d have loved a good set of tools there for cyclists, but if there’s a faster way to kill a product than the words “Robert Scoble is wearing it in the shower” I can’t think of it.
posted by mhoye at 6:24 AM on March 31, 2019 [11 favorites]

This post is hilariously timed, coming right after this one. Perhaps an early-adopter's new fantasy?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:57 AM on March 31, 2019 [1 favorite]

I wonder if it supports more complicated facial expressions like, "Acting happy, but can't stand this job and waiting for the end of the shift."
posted by clawsoon at 8:26 AM on March 31, 2019 [5 favorites]

I was very much saddened by the backlash against Glass for similar reasons. My memory for faces has always been utter shit and I've long dreamed of reasonably affordable AR hardware to help with that and other memory deficits. HoloLens looks like it's finally getting there. Maybe someday I can afford one. (I'm perfectly fine writing my own software if I can get my hands on some usable hardware...)

That said, I'm all for rules restricting the storage of video taken with assistive devices and other body worn devices with integrated cameras without explicit indication they are recording, with appropriate exceptions for certain uses, of course. There are very real privacy implications caused by the increasing density of cameras, especially ones that aren't obviously present like most permanent CCTV installations.
posted by wierdo at 11:17 AM on March 31, 2019 [5 favorites]

Given the very real racial and gender bias found in pretty much all machine learning algorithms that claim to be able to read emotions off faces, I'm...not sold on this tech. Depending on circumstances it may be better than nothing for some people but could be much, much worse.
posted by potrzebie at 11:46 AM on March 31, 2019 [3 favorites]

What they're comparing it to at this point is flashcard-based treatment, which I'm sure has some problems of its own.
posted by clawsoon at 1:03 PM on March 31, 2019 [1 favorite]