“I’m taking a picture of you,” the man says.
July 29, 2013 3:35 PM Subscribe
It's heartening that these already make the wearer subject to ridicule in SF. Allows a small hope for a short buffer of time to enact strict laws over their recording capabilities, or at least the development of technological countermeasures.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:04 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:04 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
There are three places to eat in this neighborhood. The Viennese Café Sabarsky, perfect for a post-analytic snack of Apfelstrudel mit Schlag, is open until 9 p.m. and has a Zagat score of 22. There is too much traffic on Park Avenue and Second Avenue to take a taxi downtown to the Momofuku Ssäm Bar. The man does not remember telling his glasses about enjoying that restaurant, but somehow they know.
Oh man I can't wait. I will never have to remember anything or think ever again. Google will just be "Have some Apfelstrudel mit Schlag, too much effort to get rotisserie duck at Ssäm today" and I'll be like "Ok google!". The future is amazing!
posted by Ad hominem at 4:06 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]
Oh man I can't wait. I will never have to remember anything or think ever again. Google will just be "Have some Apfelstrudel mit Schlag, too much effort to get rotisserie duck at Ssäm today" and I'll be like "Ok google!". The future is amazing!
posted by Ad hominem at 4:06 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]
resurrexit: "Good read. I hope these don't proliferate; I'm already addicted enough to technology. The last thing I need is some relatively discreet device masquerading as an accessory to let me tune out permanently."
I'm reading this on a cellphone during a conference call I'm attending "to have all hands on deck".
posted by boo_radley at 4:11 PM on July 29, 2013 [12 favorites]
I'm reading this on a cellphone during a conference call I'm attending "to have all hands on deck".
posted by boo_radley at 4:11 PM on July 29, 2013 [12 favorites]
The man does not remember telling his glasses about enjoying that restaurant, but somehow they know.
If you want to know what the future will be like, imagine wearing a privacy-violating corporation on your face, forever.
posted by DU at 4:13 PM on July 29, 2013 [45 favorites]
If you want to know what the future will be like, imagine wearing a privacy-violating corporation on your face, forever.
posted by DU at 4:13 PM on July 29, 2013 [45 favorites]
If you want to know what the future will be like, imagine wearing a privacy-violating corporation on your face, forever.
But are they people?
posted by xmutex at 4:16 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
But are they people?
posted by xmutex at 4:16 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
The damn things pick on on commands from anyone in earshot - it's like when the XboX picks up on Commander Shepard talking.
posted by The Whelk at 4:19 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 4:19 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
You guys are such naysayers. Worth it just so it can find me Apfelstrudel mit Schlag anywhere at a moments notice.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:20 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by Ad hominem at 4:20 PM on July 29, 2013
Somehow in the past 10 years my sentiments have gone from:
"Oh, that is wonderful! The future is going to be so cool!"
to:
"That's it. I'm moving to the end of a gravel road to raise goats."
posted by General Tonic at 4:27 PM on July 29, 2013 [21 favorites]
"Oh, that is wonderful! The future is going to be so cool!"
to:
"That's it. I'm moving to the end of a gravel road to raise goats."
posted by General Tonic at 4:27 PM on July 29, 2013 [21 favorites]
The damn things pick on on commands from anyone in earshot
Oh man, everywhere you go it'll be "O.K Glass, show me Goatse!" or "O.K. Glass, play Two Girls One Cup!"
posted by yoink at 4:28 PM on July 29, 2013 [6 favorites]
Oh man, everywhere you go it'll be "O.K Glass, show me Goatse!" or "O.K. Glass, play Two Girls One Cup!"
posted by yoink at 4:28 PM on July 29, 2013 [6 favorites]
Glass is one of those classic disruptive technologies. It doesn't do anything better than a smartphone — in fact, it does almost everything much much worse — but the simple change of not having to hold up a very small object is completely transformative.
posted by nev at 4:30 PM on July 29, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by nev at 4:30 PM on July 29, 2013 [8 favorites]
yoink, I LOL'd pretty good at that one.
posted by resurrexit at 4:31 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by resurrexit at 4:31 PM on July 29, 2013
We slogged through a decade of Newton, Palm Pilot and Blackberry before we hit the current smartphone ubiquity. Glass is *amazingly* close to being fully-baked as the first of its kind. How long until the iPhone 3 equivalent for augmented reality wearables?
I had a Handspring Visor, and then for a few years handheld computers just felt sort of dead. But they came back as "smartphones". Maybe we'll have a similar drought after Glass. But regardless, I'm certain they're here to stay.
posted by anateus at 4:43 PM on July 29, 2013
I had a Handspring Visor, and then for a few years handheld computers just felt sort of dead. But they came back as "smartphones". Maybe we'll have a similar drought after Glass. But regardless, I'm certain they're here to stay.
posted by anateus at 4:43 PM on July 29, 2013
My hug-buddy modified a stubby holder and some elastic from old tracky-dacks to mount his smart phone on his head so he can take pictures as he walks around our goats down the end of our dirt track.
A head of his time ahead of his time.
posted by Kerasia at 4:48 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]
A head of his time ahead of his time.
posted by Kerasia at 4:48 PM on July 29, 2013 [5 favorites]
“If you give them to your kid, you’ll be able to see everything he sees from your computer. You could follow him around all day.”
Is this mirroring just possible or actually baked in?
posted by sourwookie at 4:54 PM on July 29, 2013
Is this mirroring just possible or actually baked in?
posted by sourwookie at 4:54 PM on July 29, 2013
If you give them to your kid, you’ll be able to see everything he sees from your computer. You could follow him around all day
The battery in Google Glass is about a third the capacity of the battery in the iPhone 5. It isn't going to be able to upload video all day.
posted by aubilenon at 5:06 PM on July 29, 2013
The battery in Google Glass is about a third the capacity of the battery in the iPhone 5. It isn't going to be able to upload video all day.
posted by aubilenon at 5:06 PM on July 29, 2013
Not without a battery pack in the pants.
So that's what the kids are calling it these days.
posted by mrbill at 5:16 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
So that's what the kids are calling it these days.
posted by mrbill at 5:16 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
I was sitting at a coffeeshop the other day and watched a woman walking around with a Google Glass. I hadn't realized how...uncanny Glass users look when they're wearing the damn things. She kept sitting with her chin tilting slightly up, like a model being directed, then tic slowly left. I kept wanting to recalibrate her. "Mr. Roboto" indeed.
Also - any article referencing 'Bloodchild' is an article I'm glad to have stuck out until the end.
posted by theweasel at 5:30 PM on July 29, 2013
Also - any article referencing 'Bloodchild' is an article I'm glad to have stuck out until the end.
posted by theweasel at 5:30 PM on July 29, 2013
I was sitting at a coffeeshop the other day and watched a woman walking around with a Google Glass. I hadn't realized how...uncanny Glass users look when they're wearing the damn things.
I'm old enough to remember how hilariously weird people used to look talking on cellphones in public. We got used to that; we'll get used to GlassFace.
posted by yoink at 5:32 PM on July 29, 2013 [4 favorites]
I'm old enough to remember how hilariously weird people used to look talking on cellphones in public. We got used to that; we'll get used to GlassFace.
posted by yoink at 5:32 PM on July 29, 2013 [4 favorites]
He’s been wearing them non-stop and now it feels like his right eye is bulging out, and also he feels nauseous and has a throbbing headache somewhere to the right of the bridge of his nose.
I got this feeling after about 5 minutes of using Glass. There's going to be a run on Panadol.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:33 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
I got this feeling after about 5 minutes of using Glass. There's going to be a run on Panadol.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:33 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
I had a Handspring Visor, and then for a few years handheld computers just felt sort of dead. But they came back as "smartphones"
Handheld computers have yet to appear.
posted by DU at 5:37 PM on July 29, 2013
Handheld computers have yet to appear.
posted by DU at 5:37 PM on July 29, 2013
Handheld computers have yet to appear.
Did you fall in that time portal to 1983 again, DU?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:51 PM on July 29, 2013 [8 favorites]
Did you fall in that time portal to 1983 again, DU?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:51 PM on July 29, 2013 [8 favorites]
Apparently, they make the wearer 90% more self-absorptive.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:22 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:22 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
I am not sure Google glass will be that successful.
It will need more than 3 yrs and couple of versions to be mass acceptable. By that time, others (Apple? An unknown Chinese firm) would be nipping at Google's heels.
It is introducing something really new to the world. But the curse of being the first to break through the wall applies.
There are couple of very important issues: social consequences, battery life and actual usability.
Social consequences (what will you do when you are going for movies or any concert or any show?leave it at home? Do you really want your kids to develop a lazy eye due to using glass? While driving, it might show the directions but it also provides the temptation to use a finger to flick it and see whats new on your news/twitter stream. )
Battery life is a much bigger problem compared to smartphones because its a device that invites frequent, regular, every 5 minutes usage. A 3 hr battery life just sucks for something thats going to be used every 5 minutes. Using it would be like listening to a record with jarring sounds every minute.
Not having multiple use cases is going to be a big problem. You will be a rock star for a while with everyone talking about it and you would like to be able to take photos or pics like a citizen journalist. Viewing your updates on your newstream doesn't seem to be a good use case as it applies only if you are busy enough not to be able to take out your smartphone (And not mind the fuzzier display) and not busy enough to get distracted in reading whatever is projected.
It looks to me to be a bit like the 3D craze when it started. It looked so cool but no-one could really find the compelling factor, leave aside the headache issues.
Glass would sensitize the public to what is possible, it will be get used by technophiles but its the second or third iteration that might be successful. Something built with a lot more fashion sense (waiting for warby parker version), much much better battery life and practical use-cases in form of apps which would be successful and more ubiquitous.
As a technophile, I want it to be successful but after reading stuff about it ... i so much wanted to be part of the crowd which got the experimental glasses but now from what I have read, I think mass acceptance is still 3 or so years away.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 6:29 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
It will need more than 3 yrs and couple of versions to be mass acceptable. By that time, others (Apple? An unknown Chinese firm) would be nipping at Google's heels.
It is introducing something really new to the world. But the curse of being the first to break through the wall applies.
There are couple of very important issues: social consequences, battery life and actual usability.
Social consequences (what will you do when you are going for movies or any concert or any show?leave it at home? Do you really want your kids to develop a lazy eye due to using glass? While driving, it might show the directions but it also provides the temptation to use a finger to flick it and see whats new on your news/twitter stream. )
Battery life is a much bigger problem compared to smartphones because its a device that invites frequent, regular, every 5 minutes usage. A 3 hr battery life just sucks for something thats going to be used every 5 minutes. Using it would be like listening to a record with jarring sounds every minute.
Not having multiple use cases is going to be a big problem. You will be a rock star for a while with everyone talking about it and you would like to be able to take photos or pics like a citizen journalist. Viewing your updates on your newstream doesn't seem to be a good use case as it applies only if you are busy enough not to be able to take out your smartphone (And not mind the fuzzier display) and not busy enough to get distracted in reading whatever is projected.
It looks to me to be a bit like the 3D craze when it started. It looked so cool but no-one could really find the compelling factor, leave aside the headache issues.
Glass would sensitize the public to what is possible, it will be get used by technophiles but its the second or third iteration that might be successful. Something built with a lot more fashion sense (waiting for warby parker version), much much better battery life and practical use-cases in form of apps which would be successful and more ubiquitous.
As a technophile, I want it to be successful but after reading stuff about it ... i so much wanted to be part of the crowd which got the experimental glasses but now from what I have read, I think mass acceptance is still 3 or so years away.
posted by TheLittlePrince at 6:29 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
How much computing do you actually do on a smartphone vs watching videos and tapping at the colores squares of simple puzzles? Basically, interacting with worlds other people create is all you can do.
Right now, in another window on my real computer, I'm busy using Lisp to compute the number of board configurations for a generalized m*m tic-tac-toe game. "lol parens" but really there aren't any programming languages it is feasible to use on a smartphone. Human languages either, really, if you want to talk in paragraphs.
Handheld "computers" are consumer devices, computing is a creative activity.
posted by DU at 6:29 PM on July 29, 2013
Right now, in another window on my real computer, I'm busy using Lisp to compute the number of board configurations for a generalized m*m tic-tac-toe game. "lol parens" but really there aren't any programming languages it is feasible to use on a smartphone. Human languages either, really, if you want to talk in paragraphs.
Handheld "computers" are consumer devices, computing is a creative activity.
posted by DU at 6:29 PM on July 29, 2013
oh, acknowledgement of LISP's specialness
posted by thelonius at 6:41 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 6:41 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
"lol parens"
what?
the Lisp language is known for its parenthesis.
posted by sideshow at 6:43 PM on July 29, 2013
what?
the Lisp language is known for its parenthesis.
posted by sideshow at 6:43 PM on July 29, 2013
Huge derail I know but if you've an iDevice and want to compute, get Codea.
Full Lua implementation with an ever expanding library of device functions including OpenGL and shaders. Built in tabbed & highlighting editor. One touch compile and run on device. Latest versions allows you to edit remotely via web browser (yes, you could use your desktop as a dumb terminal to your iPhone's IDE). And it has a "create Xcode project" that will package up your code, resources and the libraries into a ready-to-build (and ship to the AppStore) project. And there are apps in the store now created on the device itself.
I never want to hear that "it's just a content consumption device" horseshit again, thanks.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:50 PM on July 29, 2013 [8 favorites]
Full Lua implementation with an ever expanding library of device functions including OpenGL and shaders. Built in tabbed & highlighting editor. One touch compile and run on device. Latest versions allows you to edit remotely via web browser (yes, you could use your desktop as a dumb terminal to your iPhone's IDE). And it has a "create Xcode project" that will package up your code, resources and the libraries into a ready-to-build (and ship to the AppStore) project. And there are apps in the store now created on the device itself.
I never want to hear that "it's just a content consumption device" horseshit again, thanks.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:50 PM on July 29, 2013 [8 favorites]
Newt Gingrich at the zoo. Chris Kluwe take some snaps.
posted by Drinky Die at 6:54 PM on July 29, 2013
posted by Drinky Die at 6:54 PM on July 29, 2013
Handheld "computers" are consumer devices, computing is a creative activity.
Really. So anyone just using a desktop running Windows to check their email is not 'computing'. Give me a break.
Computers are a tool. It doesn't matter if you're the guy who makes the hammer, or the guy that uses the hammer - it's still a hammer.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:01 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
Really. So anyone just using a desktop running Windows to check their email is not 'computing'. Give me a break.
Computers are a tool. It doesn't matter if you're the guy who makes the hammer, or the guy that uses the hammer - it's still a hammer.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:01 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
Huge derail I know but if you've an iDevice and want to compute, get Codea.
Full Lua implementation with an ever expanding library of device functions including OpenGL and shaders....
Do not compute.
posted by nevercalm at 7:03 PM on July 29, 2013
Full Lua implementation with an ever expanding library of device functions including OpenGL and shaders....
Do not compute.
posted by nevercalm at 7:03 PM on July 29, 2013
They're making a TV show of Super Sad True Love Story?!
posted by sonmi at 7:27 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by sonmi at 7:27 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
Does this particular camera do the IR pulse focus finding thing?
It wouldn't be too hard to make a device that flashes and ruins the picture, or alerts people to a picture being taken, in that case.
posted by poe at 8:09 PM on July 29, 2013
It wouldn't be too hard to make a device that flashes and ruins the picture, or alerts people to a picture being taken, in that case.
posted by poe at 8:09 PM on July 29, 2013
When you can buy a pair that looks like (is?) a pair of Wayfarers, you'll see mass adoption. The problem isn't the function - it's the form.
posted by jimmythefish at 10:29 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by jimmythefish at 10:29 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Combine this with the death off privacy, and within 50 years you'll be able to look at a person and get their entire browsing, medical, dating and credit history. Conversely, by clicking on a person's name or picture, you'll get all that as well as their location to within a meter. Due to security concerns, hacking the phone to turn off the locator or turning off the phone will get you flagged as a possible terrorist or criminal.
But that's just scratching the potential of ubiquitous computing: by monitoring what you see, employers will be able to tell if you are really sick when you take sick leave, and by monitoring pupil dilation, they'll be able to tell if you're really paying attention st work. By looking at what your eating and checking for exercise habits, insurance companies will be able to adjust rates in real time. And I'm sure companies will be able to find a lot more uses for the complete information they will have on you.
z it might be a sign of wealth to actually be free of ubiquitous information; the ultra rich will have people to wear smart glasses for them.
posted by happyroach at 10:44 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
But that's just scratching the potential of ubiquitous computing: by monitoring what you see, employers will be able to tell if you are really sick when you take sick leave, and by monitoring pupil dilation, they'll be able to tell if you're really paying attention st work. By looking at what your eating and checking for exercise habits, insurance companies will be able to adjust rates in real time. And I'm sure companies will be able to find a lot more uses for the complete information they will have on you.
z it might be a sign of wealth to actually be free of ubiquitous information; the ultra rich will have people to wear smart glasses for them.
posted by happyroach at 10:44 PM on July 29, 2013 [3 favorites]
Handheld computers have yet to appear.
One can purchase devices such as the Nexus 4 that are Turing complete, can be rooted at will and have unlocked bootloaders. I fail to see how these aren't handheld computers.
posted by jaduncan at 12:23 AM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]
One can purchase devices such as the Nexus 4 that are Turing complete, can be rooted at will and have unlocked bootloaders. I fail to see how these aren't handheld computers.
posted by jaduncan at 12:23 AM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]
The battery in Google Glass is about a third the capacity of the battery in the iPhone 5. It isn't going to be able to upload video all day.
So it really needs an app that allows the parent to switch it on at will without the kid knowing. Sounds pretty straightforward, if that's what you're in to. Sounds pretty revolting to me.
posted by biffa at 2:28 AM on July 30, 2013
So it really needs an app that allows the parent to switch it on at will without the kid knowing. Sounds pretty straightforward, if that's what you're in to. Sounds pretty revolting to me.
posted by biffa at 2:28 AM on July 30, 2013
Due to security concerns, hacking the phone to turn off the locator or turning off the phone will get you flagged as a possible terrorist or criminal.
For those who haven't seen it yet, series 1 episode 3 "The Entire History of You" of Charlie Brooker's "Black Mirror" series examines the social implications of technology like this.
Released in December 2011, FWIW.
(spoilers!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Mirror_episodes
If you haven't seen the episode, don't read the synopsis on the wikipedia page, you'll miss the full dystopic horror of how the story unfolds.
posted by illongruci at 2:31 AM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
For those who haven't seen it yet, series 1 episode 3 "The Entire History of You" of Charlie Brooker's "Black Mirror" series examines the social implications of technology like this.
Released in December 2011, FWIW.
(spoilers!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Mirror_episodes
If you haven't seen the episode, don't read the synopsis on the wikipedia page, you'll miss the full dystopic horror of how the story unfolds.
posted by illongruci at 2:31 AM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
Sort of a reverse "They Live"
Take off the glasses!
'No!'
Take 'em off!
'Go to hell!'
*fight in alley*
*guy notices debris not tagged, can't tell a persons history immediately from their face*
'...what the hell is going on?'
posted by Smedleyman at 1:36 PM on July 30, 2013
Take off the glasses!
'No!'
Take 'em off!
'Go to hell!'
*fight in alley*
*guy notices debris not tagged, can't tell a persons history immediately from their face*
'...what the hell is going on?'
posted by Smedleyman at 1:36 PM on July 30, 2013
Now That It’s in the Broadband Game, Google Flip-Flops on Network Neutrality
posted by homunculus at 1:48 PM on July 30, 2013
posted by homunculus at 1:48 PM on July 30, 2013
I don't want to see and record. I want to see, postprocess, and display. I want Buycott as an augmented reality app, where barcodes in my view are colored based on the campaigns I have chosen.
posted by quillbreaker at 2:43 PM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by quillbreaker at 2:43 PM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
How Vice Hacked Google Glass To Tell Crisis Stories: Vice's Tim Pool is using a hacked Glass to report from flashpoints around the world. Co.Labs spoke to Pool about taking Google's face-mounted camera into clouds of tear gas, through mobs of pissed-off cops and protestors and straight into the future of journalism.
posted by homunculus at 1:12 PM on August 1, 2013
posted by homunculus at 1:12 PM on August 1, 2013
Teenager Tackles Autism With Help From Google Glass
posted by homunculus at 2:11 PM on August 14, 2013
posted by homunculus at 2:11 PM on August 14, 2013
The Next Version of Google Glass May Not Look So Dorky: Released images show design with normal-looking frames
posted by homunculus at 10:06 AM on August 29, 2013
posted by homunculus at 10:06 AM on August 29, 2013
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posted by resurrexit at 4:02 PM on July 29, 2013