By Sagar Vishnoi:
How do you feel while walking down the street with your smart-phone? Isn’t touching a glass screen again and again, that takes your attention off the real world, a kind of let-down or possibly annoying? Sometimes we complain as well, of a little strain in our neck, but what to do, it’s the only mobile device available for communication, right?
But how would you feel capturing your baby’s first steps without wasting 20 seconds in taking out camera/phone? How would you feel making every communication on the go hands-free, without giving a strain to your neck? Last year when Google announced Project Glass and when they appeared earlier this year with the launch, it took the whole world by a storm. Based on artificial intelligence, Google glass is a path-breaking android wearable computing that people have never experienced.
If you compare it with any of your IPhone, Virtue or IWatch gadget, it is par with them. Specifications reveals that it has adjustable nose-pads and durable frame which can fit any face. High resolution display is the equivalent of a 25 inch high definition screen from eight feet away. Camera specifications are impressive where photos of any sudden event can be clicked with a 5 MP and Videos in 720p can be recorded or used for Hangouts. For Audio reception, it has Bone Conduction Transducer and Wi-Fi of 802.11b/g and Bluetooth is available as well for connectivity. 12 GB of usable memory synced with Google cloud storage is enough for storage and battery can be used for more than 8 hours on being fully charged.
You can check emails only marked important by G-mail (not to flood storage by a constant stream of notifications) and social interactions of-course. With Glass, you can search the internet, open or join a Hangout and place/receive phone calls, all with your voice.
Glass is much safer and far more useful for navigation than staring down at your phone or stuffed in your cup holder shouting directions available. Since applications work brilliantly only with 3G/4G , it can be a restriction in most parts of India.
With so much freedom comes privacy invasion as well. After all, you have a computer on your face that can take photos, record videos and broadcast live events. Social obligations have already been arrived even before its official launch where several casinos and movie theaters have banned it. Interestingly, there are complaints of information overload and average sound quality. Price can be a problem as 1631$ or around 95,000 isn’t affordable for anyone, but for those who can, it will be worth it. With so much negative buzz around privacy intrusion, will Google still be able to make it as popular as IPhone?
Since people are accustomed to phones and glass is still in it’s introductory phase, available only to developers and a specific class of people, its consumer reach will take time (around 1 more year). Glass wasn’t available to just anyone. One had to be invited to buy Glass. One had to be worthy of wearing it. One had to emotionally commit before Google would consent to take their money.
Google glass isn’t just another app or a wearable smartphone, it’ll be a killer life-style.