Sci-non-fi?
KyleEberly
Science Fiction has always fascinated me, intergalactic travel, wormholes, alternate dimensions, you name it. One of the things I love best about Science Fiction is the endless possibilities of creativity and innovation, the drive to always push the limits of what is known and to discover new things seems to be something that is at our very core as humans. Now while we are still very far away from blowing up stars with giant space stations, Google as always is doing its best to bring the future into reality.
Google Glass is one of Google’s most exciting and momentous projects, what is it? Google Glass is basically a wearable computer with a head-mounted display. What does that mean? Well it is worn just like you wear a pair of glasses (it looks and feels similar in design as well) and has a built in computer with a display or screen that you view by looking up and slightly to the right. You interact with the device via voice commands such as “okay glass, take picture”.
It will have an impressive amount of capabilities including capturing both pictures and video, sending messages, directions from Google maps via the built in GPS, live video chat with the ability to stream what you are seeing, language translation, Google search query’s, reminders, and much more.
While we do not have a lot of final details on the specifications of hardware, it is likely that Glass with run on a modified version of the Android OS. It will most likely use WI-FI and Bluetooth for its networking and bone-induction for sound (vibrating your skull to send sound the sound into your inner ear). It will have a built in gps chip and most likely a good camera and microphone. The “glasses” frame will come in five colors, Charcoal, Tangerine, Shale, Cotton, Sky (or black, orange, grey, white, and blue).
I personally am very excited for this; the possibilities for its application are nearly infinite, now having said that the possibilities are not all good. Google is notorious for collecting all sorts of data that many people consider private. The thought of Google (or anyone for that matter) having the capability of capturing everything you say and even possibly see is a scary one. Also there is the matter of safety; it adds yet another thing that is there to distract people while driving, crossing the street, and doing other every day activities.
With ever leap forward technologically there is potential both for it to be used for good and evil. Google Glass is slated to be available to the public by early 2014 but they may be available in limited supply earlier then that so don’t be surprised if you see them around from time to time. I for one will be eagerly following the progression of this project to see what the outcome is; my personal hope is that for the first time in history “four-eyes” will be a compliment.
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