
Google Glass - robin_reala
http://www.google.com/glass
======
Erwin
The recorded videos' have a strange voyeuristic feel, probably due to the POV
being so close to the wearer's eyes. That you can use the glasses do do a
hangout in real time and broadcast seems novel though.

There's no shortage of sci-fi stories dealing with this sort of always-on
recording. "Strange Days", "Black Mirror (#3)". I wonder about the legality of
this product, if it becomes inconspicuous.

Some product ideas:

1) "Datecast" -- get real-time advice and tips while on a date (or at a job
interview. Or a business meeting -- is this startup's idea really that
original? Or while shopping for some more complex consumer product: your
remote wine expert suggests you to buy this particular bottle based on your
previous tastes).

2) "Lifecast" -- our team of professionals reviews a total stream of your life
and gives you advice on everything. They remind you how your wife liked this
necklace a few days ago (you forgot, but they paid attention for you). That
business meeting where you discussed your database scaling issues? An hour
later we give you a call with with tips how to solve it. That hallway
conversation? Transcripted before the next day.

3) Vacationcast: too old or poor or busy to go on a vacation? Want to relive
your youth? Be anyone you want, transmitted in real time, unedited (this
assumes that there's some thrill that seeing things happen real time,
unscripted has over a more edited vacation footage). If video and audio alone
is not enough, the vacationcasting company could offer a comfortable room,
with scents and texture from your vacation destination.

4) Crimecam: anonymously send bitcoins to a criminal, encouraging a rampage of
crime, broadcasted to your group of backers in real time. Will he get away
with it?

Although, justin.tv has been doing this sort of thing for a while, and I'm not
sure what has come out of it.

~~~
ansible
Re: Datecasting

This was addressed in the short film called Sight:

<http://vimeo.com/m/46304267>

It was really well done for a small budget.

~~~
faxilux
I love it, thanks for sharing. I especially enjoyed the real life fruit ninja
part, if technology can be used to make mundane tasks more exciting I'm all
for it.

~~~
Erwin
I liked the dig on the perversion of gamification here.

"Achievements" have become very popular in games -- you might have fully
complete a game level, but there's a bonus if you use a specific weapon or not
kill people or not do something odd while doing so. So sometimes people spend
inordinate amount of time in games that they've already completed, doing
something over and over again to gain a perfect "score".

Here he cuts the cucumber imperfectly, not getting the perfect score and so he
discards it. The date is also heavily scored, and the augmented reality wall
seems to have plenty of other perfect achievements. He longer cares as much
about the end result, but just about the achievement badge (perhaps to be
flaunted to others).

------
artursapek
I am seriously concerned about this.

I was in a long-distance relationship this summer. We would take turns
visiting each other in our respective cities roughly 5 hours apart. It was a
pretty long journey for a weekend - it would sometimes take 10 hours one way
since you had to go through New York. Of course, it was worth it.

But whenever we would go on a walk, or I'd take her out to dinner, I got as
much face time with the back of that fucking iPhone as with her. We'd be
strolling down the street during a beautiful summer sunset, and she'd be
holding my hand with one of hers, and with the other she'd be scrolling
through Instagram. Craning her neck to stare at that stupid dim little screen
instead of just looking around at the beautiful neighborhood I lived in. Same
thing while I tried talking to her during dinner. She literally preferred it
to looking at what was around her.

Gawking at fake vintage photos. Or reading her horoscope. Or online shopping.
Or whatever.

I asked her to stop, I said it was rude. She couldn't. I started to resent the
iPhone, for stealing my limited time with her. I know, I know. It was a flaw
in her, and not _everybody_ does that, right?

Certainly not everybody. But I go to coffee shops now, I go to events, and
people are just in cell phone huddles. A group of people will go out, and
unanimously decide to prick and pinch and swipe their glass worship stones
instead of having a fucking conversation or looking around them. This is
_everywhere_. Every year it's more of a common sight. It's actually surprising
now to see someone at the local cafe reading a book, or playing chess.

I might notice this more than most because I made a life decision to not use a
"smart phone" and have kept using the same shitty Blackberry for 6 years now.
It can only do calls, texts, and Sudoku. I couldn't do this kind of thing if I
wanted.

I'm 20 now. I remember junior high, when the best cell phone was a Motorola
RAZR. People never did this shit back then, because they couldn't. People
spent time with each other. The cell phones would come out to facilitate
people getting together, and then they'd go back in your pocket. That was it.
They were actually phones. It was all they could do.

Phones today just aren't phones anymore. I don't know what to call them.
They're more integrated with our lives. More intrusive. More attractive.
They're addictive.[1] And they're used mostly for useless things.

Well, Google is taking the last remaining effort out of letting technology
intervene with your actual life. And they know what to call it. Glass. Now you
can _wear_ it. It's a default. You don't have to pull it out. It's just always
there. If this becomes normal, I will probably have to run away to the Third
World or something.

I am crossing my fingers that we just stop at smart phones, and this never
takes off. But I'm scared, because in the back of my head I am pretty certain
it will. Eventually there will be no strangers, and there will be no friends.
Everyone's name will be public, and nobody will get to know each other.
Despite your dinky little social networks and social apps, you are forgetting
what it is to actually know someone.

I really hope I don't ever have to go on a date with some girl who's getting
conversation tips from Google's magic headgear. Fuck that.

[1] <http://paulgraham.com/addiction.html>

~~~
jgroome
I hear what you're saying, and I appreciate that you put the time in to write
that out, but honestly I'm hearing this kind of argument from so many quarters
("we never look up!" "we all talk, but we never _converse_!" etc etc) recently
that it's starting to get obnoxious.

Conversation is not dead. People have been moaning about how we're all
becoming socially isolated since the publication of the first novel. The art
of socialising has been declared dying ever since the first VHS was available
to buy and watch at home.

Point is, it's bullshit. People still hang out (in person, not in "hangouts").
Yeah, people have mobile phones, and sometimes when hanging out as part of a
group we check them, but it's not like it kills all conversation dead. A group
of three people all looking at their phones is the exception, not the rule -
it's not like that's what we plan to do when we arrange to spend time
together.

As for your lady friend, like you said, that's her habit to break. But you
can't assume everyone who hasn't taken a vow not to use a smartphone is the
same - I have a smartphone, so do all my friends, and yet we're all somehow
able to communicate to one another in person. When I go out and about in town
I don't see crowds of people standing around looking at their phones. I see
groups of people socialising and talking - if someone is by themselves then
their phone can provide some distraction/semblance of "company".

There's also a tendency for us techy types to get caught in our own little
bubble - I get my news from HN Reddit and Twitter, so my view on how people
use these services is clouded. It's like when a journalist starts using
Twitter and writes about how "everybody is obsessed with tweeting, you can
only send short messages, therefore the art of meaningful conversation is
dead". They don't realise that the "everybody" they're talking about is only
those people in their immediate social circle.

I've kind of gone off subject, but my main point is this: Black Mirror isn't a
documentary. It's so easy to project your own worst nightmares onto new
technology. It doesn't necessarily make them a reality.

~~~
waterlesscloud
If you're hearing the same point made from a lot of quarters, then maybe
there's an actual phenomenon behind it.

But more than that, Glass is fundamentally different.

It's designed, from the concept up, to always be in your awareness. That's
what it _is_. That's the entire appeal of it.

That's not a book, and it's not even a smartphone that spends most of its time
in your pocket.

It's something that _always_ demands some fraction of your attention.

It's different.

~~~
Evbn
When it's been said forever, it's not really a new threat.

Small talk was always pointless.

~~~
aeturnum
>Small talk was always pointless.

I used to have this view. I like talking about interesting subjects, comparing
understandings of complex issues, understanding different viewpoints.

However, I realized that small talk is an important part of that. It's a
system that lets you and the other party feel each other out without
committing social transgressions. It's what lets you guess that someone would
say "Hitler was right," without allowing them to actually say it.

I don't really do small talk with my friends. With them, I talk about things
that I care about, or they care about, and that's fine. With acquaintances and
strangers, it's essential.

~~~
narrator
Has anyone else become hyper-specialized in their interests because of
pervasive connectivity? I've gotten to the point where on some topics there
are zero people I know personally that I could have a conversation with about
these topics unless I did all of the talking.

I find people to talk intelligently about these topics through online niche
forums. It's so weird sometimes because I've got a small talk personae for
"normal people" and then everything I talk about online which is highly
specialized and takes a while to explain, even to an interested listener.

~~~
aeturnum
I find that's true for a few of my interests, but not to the degree that I'm
disinterested in talking about those subjects on a more basic level.

------
sshconnection
Dear god, so many haters in here. It's a brand new prototype product, and
people are complaining about minor features etc. What is wrong with you
people? I thought this was a board full of hackers. If you can't see the
massive potential in this, you may be in the wrong place.

~~~
vibrunazo
> I thought this was a board full of hackers.

Complete opposite. This board is full of people interested in startups and
looking to get a better grasp of technology. But only a tiny minority here
actually code, if you're looking for that you should probably try a more
specific coding board or group.

Also, people around here are obsessed with, what they call "playing devil's
advocate" or "offering a counter point". Which, in other parts of the planet
would be called "trolling". But here that's encouraged as long as the post is
well formatted enough to not immediately remind you of reddit.

Put those 2 together and it's very easy to understand the illogical negative
posts on the top. It's just people trolling without technological insight. In
fact, you'll hardly find any thread about a new technology on HN, which the
top post isn't contrarian.

~~~
adriand
> only a tiny minority here actually code

I don't think that's true at all. I would guess that the majority of HN users
can code, and that many of them - certainly not a "tiny minority" - do on a
regular basis. If HN polls are at all accurate, they seem to bear out that
conclusion:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1544581> (admittedly, old)

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3785277> (less than a year old, and shows
a majority have learned CS)

These are in line with what I've generally seen of the HN community.

------
gnufied
I have always wondered where are following hardware hidden in this design:

1\. CPU and really the whole shebang. where is it?

2\. It probably requires some sort of 3G/4G card and connection? Where the
heck does it fit?

3\. Batteries! Where are those? Are they solar charged?

I understand people who are saying, it is not that much of a big deal just
miniaturization of existing technologies but if all above 3 fit in that glass
frame, I am genuinely amazed. If anyone who have used Google glass and can
chime-in, that will be awesome.

~~~
sparkinson
I would have thought it'd pair with your phone, with the phone doing all the
hard work. The glasses really just being a display and recorder.

~~~
risratorn
That would indeed be the most obvious way to go, it would also make the device
more powerful down the road since the computing is done on a smartphone which
only get faster and faster by the year.

~~~
guruz
I'd say the computing is done "in the cloud". Low power transmission to your
phone, then to the google datacenter.

It seems cool from a technology point, but I'm not sure I want to trust Google
(and thereby the US Government) my life. Or am I doing that already by using
Google Search and GMail?

~~~
Ixiaus
Yeah, we're all doing it already. At this point it's more about managing what
_I_ do online then it is about avoiding using the services.

Google Glass will be massively popular with the active crowd (kind of how the
GoCam got its big break) - I would personally use it in place of recording
videos with my phone! I would not wear it all the time though, that's
ridiculous.

------
pkorzeniewski
As cool as the idea sounds, I'm sceptical of the real life usage scenarios. It
would be interesting for the first few days, but after that I think it would
be simply annoying. Just think about getting notifications from FB, Twitter
and other apps all the time - with mobile phone you can just ignore them and
check later when you have time, with Google Glass they would be thrown right
in your face. Not to mention ads, which I'm pretty sure will come sooner or
later, and I won't even start about the privacy. Also, watching the Google
Glass ad[1] I was constantly switching my focus between the display and the
actual view - in real life it's a great way to have an accident. And one last
thing, from the ad I've got the impression that the main use case is sharing
your life with others, which I think is already at ridiculous level (like
people sharing what they ate for dinner) - now it'll be even more ridiculous
by people showing off they entire day (me walking in shopping center, me
riding on a bike, me eating and so on).

[1] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uyQZNg2vE>

~~~
mirkules
I agree with your sentiment. Privacy and ads are a huge issue for me (and the
reason I will not own one).

As far as usage cases, I can see this being extremely useful while driving, if
it's not too distracting. If it silently records and uploads everything while
driving, it just became an internet-enabled dashcam. It's also a customizable,
interactive HUD. While it's already used in the military (airplanes,
helicopter helmets), I can see a case for ground troops having these (real
time tracking, enemy location marking, aiming assistance, etc).

I also believe that it's not going to be a always-wear scenario. I think it's
going to become a bluetooth-earpiece use case, i.e. wear it when you need it,
put it away when you don't. If you recall, people used to wear those earpieces
everywhere when they first came out, now: not so much.

At the end of the day, it's cool technology and potentially extremely useful.
But it's created by a company whose core business is collecting data and
selling ads, and the idea of embedding themselves into EVERY facet of my life
is extremely unnerving.

~~~
SquareWheel

        "Privacy and ads are a huge issue for me (and the reason I will not own one)"
    

Has there been any indication this product will have ads? It is a paid
_product_ , unlike Google services. Google's products so far haven't had any
ads in them.

~~~
mirkules
You are right, there is no indication it will have ads. But just because it's
a paid product does not mean that the cost of the hardware cannot be
subsidized by ads/data, or will not be in the future.

Either way, as I stated above, data and ads are Google's primary business
model. It is more a (perhaps-irrational) distrust of Google having the
potential to use my data, than of the concept itself.

I don't mean to single out Google -- they are generally good with non-
intrusive ads in GMail and have a proven track record of security. But it
freaks me out that any company would have access to _everything_ I see.

Also what happens to all that data when the terms of service are changed (like
ToS was changed last year)?

------
bobsy
I didn't realise how bad it looks. The premise looks awesome. The demo
video... awesome. The way the product looks on someone's face... this isn't
the finished product right?

I think Google should look at designer glasses and outsource the design to
someone who knows what they are doing.

~~~
lhnz
<http://econogirl.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/braces.jpg>

The metal line is reminiscent of a head brace, while the projector makes you
look like cyborg escaped from a Halloween party. They will need a stunning
amount of marketing and advertising for this to become socially acceptable.

I guess it could be a little bit worse, I can see they were trying to go for
sleek...

I think the greater problem was that the actual uses they showed were so
uninspiring. They should get more creative. The utilities arise from where (a)
where we have difficulty giving meaning to something in our visual horizon, or
(b) we wish to use a handicap (this normally requires hands and is better if
hidden.)

Imagine going to a band's gig and you don't need to worry about only knowing
the verses to some of the songs because you can see the lyrics? Hopefully the
microphone could tell you if you're singing off-key...

Imagine busking with the lyrics, chords and notes for the song appearing in
front of you as you play. No need to memorise everything.

Imagine walking up to an acquaintance and seeing their name next to their
face; or walking into a pub and a bubble appearing when you see somebody
telling you that they are the family member or friend of a close friend.

Or speaking to somebody and the software recognising their emotional cues for
you. Pupils dilating, nostrils flaring, a fake smile, self-comforting, etc.
Maybe you say something and a bar alerts you immediately to signs you have
said the wrong thing; or a change in the tone of their voice signifying
seriousness or interest.

It's hard to care about the time or temperature. And car's already have GPS...

~~~
coopdog
Turn-by-turn directions alone for pedestrians, cyclists and motor bikes is
probably enough to make a successful product. Google Now with glass could also
be pretty amazing, and since you always have the sound on it could actually
make push to talk (or.. talk to talk) a reality (since before it was too
cumbersome to hear something, open your phone, say 'what', they repeat... 'oh
ok', repeat..)

Like your ideas though, hopefully third party devs can make them a reality
(I'm guessing battery is the issue on the persistant video recognition stuff).
Seriously upbeat about this, it could change lives

~~~
lhnz
I think that niche of travelling which requires your hands is definitely worth
it. This is the reason why I don't like using a bike for long journeys.

------
hospadam
Several days ago - there were a bunch of stories about Google opening retail
locations around the country. I think the reason they will do this is obvious:
they want people to use their products in person.

To me - for Glass to be successful - they will have to allow people to play
with them. This is the kind of thing that would sell amazingly in a retail
setting. Imagine the line of people lining up just to put one on and _see what
it looks like_.

~~~
mikegioia
Google needs to put as much Wonka into these stores as humanly possible. I
would love to see an all robot sales staff starting from day 1.

~~~
stcredzero
Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp?

~~~
mikegioia
Come on, Gene Wilder.

------
gmu3
This is only tangentially related, but I recently read The Shallows by
Nicholas Carr and he referenced an interesting study:

Kansas State University scholars conducted a similarly realistic study. They
had a group of college students watch a typical CNN broadcast in which an
anchor reported four news stories while various info-graphics flashed on the
screen and a textual news crawl ran along the bottom. They had a second group
watch the same programming but with the graphics and the news crawl stripped
out. Subsequent tests found that the students who had watched the multimedia
version remembered significantly fewer facts from the stories than those who
had watched the simpler version. “It appears,” wrote the researchers, “that
this multimessage format exceeded viewers’ attentional capacity.”

~~~
Apocryphon
“Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular
songs or the names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year.
Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’
that they feel stuffed but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then
they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving.
And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them
any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That
way lies melancholy. Any man who can take a TV wall apart and put it back
together again, and most men can, nowadays, is happier than any man who tries
to slide-rule, measure and equate the universe, which just won’t be measured
or equated without making man feel bestial and lonely.”

— Fahrenheit 451

------
jcromartie
How does Google Glass help me fly a plane or do the trapeze? It doesn't of
course. But they're showing me that using Google Glass feels like flying a
plane or doing the trapeze.

"How it feels" is not how it feels, it's other peoples' experiences. And I
feel like it implies that you will have these great experiences if you use
Google Glass. How does Google Glass add anything by displaying weather or
recording a weird first-person video while playing with your kids or your dog
in the park?

~~~
mikegioia
Well, it could make you WANT to do those things now that you have the glasses.

I've never considered sky diving but if I could easily record sky diving like
this, then maybe I would do it.

~~~
jcromartie
I really don't see how being able to record sky diving would make me (or
anybody) want to go skydiving. What about the experience itself? Is that worth
nothing now, and only the recording of it is worthwhile?

~~~
base698
Skydiver of 14 years here. I am eager to see something that has information
regarding how close you are to others in the air. About half or more of the 20
fatal incidents a year are due to people colliding under a fully open/working
parachute. A visual warning system to remove the blind spot behind you would
be great.

------
josteink
Ok. So 100% voice-based. That makes sense. That's great. Except if you don't
speak English as your primary language.

I've tried Google's voice-recognition on my native language and the results
have been closer to sad than lulz-worthy.

Yes, I know English. Yes, I can both write and speak it fairly well. That's
not the point: You won't believe how awkward a context-switch from "I'm
talking to people" to "I'm talking to this machine, but I need to do so in
English" actually feels.

It's just feels so fundamentally wrong, that despite how it _might_ save you
time and effort you _always_ go for the option where voice-recognition is not
involved.

Unless Google improves their voice-recognition for everything not US English,
I predict this product failing horribly in most markets, even with everything
else 100% perfect and flawlessly executed.

~~~
chez17
This seems like a silly beef to have with a revolutionary product that still
is in beta. You know it's developed by an American company, right? It's not
crazy for them to have the first language supported to be the language the
people from the company speak. Give it some time.

~~~
guizzy
The Google Glass device probably uses the same voice recognition as Android.
Android is not in beta anymore, yet its voice recognition fails pretty bad on
anything other than English. Google Now is almost entirely useless unless your
device is set to US English.

I get that they can't exactly make everything work perfectly for everyone. But
most of the planet is not american. They want to interact with technology on
their own terms, in their own language. Google is long past the point at which
it can make excuses now. While breaking new grounds with stuff like Google
Glass is very cool, so is offering useful voice recognition to most of the
planet.

~~~
dntrkv
The big difference between the two is that Glass is powered 100% by voice,
Android is powered primarily by touch. I am sure that by the time Google
starts rolling this out to the mass market in other countries, they will have
those problems figured out.

------
calinet6
Wow. This is _marketing material._ This is going to be a real thing.

Wanna bet Google gives them away for free so they can sell advertising based
on your exact context and needs; even what you're looking at? Maybe.

But just the idea and possibility of that is incredible. Imagine what this
could be used for; not just what we can think of now, but a whole new paradigm
of ubiquitous computing, a world to which mobile phones were only a stepping
stone.

Come to think of it, I don't think we're ready for this.

~~~
citricsquid
They're charging $1500 to be in this "exclusive beta", seems unlikely they'll
be free at release.

~~~
networked
If Glass takes off and especially if it runs Android we can except Samsung and
other major players in the cell phone market to start offering their versions
soon enough. With Android phones it didn't take long for Chinese manufacturers
to start offering phones under their own brands for a fraction of what major
manufacturers ask for their products [1] shipped directly from China to the
customer. If a technological difficulty doesn't prevent Glass clones from
being manufactured then given its high starting price of around $1500 (I
wouldn't expect retail price to differ too much; cf. $529.99 for Google Nexus
One at launch in the US) Chinese-brand AR glasses might become the next big
thing around the world.

[1] See [http://www.gizchina.com/2012/11/20/gizchina-exclusive-
jiayu-...](http://www.gizchina.com/2012/11/20/gizchina-exclusive-
jiayu-g3-unboxing-and-hands-on-video/) for what they offer for $200 unlocked.
In, e.g., parts of Europe where pay-as-you-go is the norm and most phones are
bought unsubsidized such prices are basically unheard for a similarly specced
phone. Of course, those phones have their own problems (like worse QA) and
come with little to no support. Despite that I personally know many technical
types who have decided it to be worth it for themselves and sites like XDA
Developers (<http://forum.xda-developers.com>) show a global interest.

Edit: expanded the footnote.

------
jonmc12
"tell us what you would do if you had Glass" - uh oh, this is exactly how
Google Wave started. They are asking because it is a cool tool and they don't
know how people will get real value yet.

~~~
gfodor
This isn't really comparable. Clearly there are hundreds of uses for a always-
available video or photo recorder.

~~~
jonmc12
"Clearly there are hundreds of uses.." - and that was exactly the introduction
for the Google code camp for Wave. Uses and value at Google scale are 2
different things.

~~~
gfodor
I don't buy the comparison. Wave was a software product with a complete
different paradigm for communication and had huge switching costs. This is a
webcam you can wear on your head. The market for portable video cameras was
validated in the 1970s.

------
h4pless
The idea of Google Glass throws up a few red flags for me...

1) Safety - For some reason thinking about a wireless device strapped in a
stationary position on my head brings about heightened concerns of the long
term impact of having a electromagnetic field being constantly generated next
to my brain... Thinking of horror stories from when cell phones first came
out.

2) Safety again - The static position of the glass directly over just one eye
makes me think of Steve Martin's downfall in The Jerk. If people are actually
wearing these things all the time, I would be concerned with how something
that you're constantly having to readjust your focus to see with only one eye
may cause a disparity in vision. Of course google could adjust the focus of
the glass to be some arbitrary amount of feet out to help with focusing but
this seems like it would make for less usable space on that tiny screen and
still doesn't address the long term effects of having something statically in
the field of vision of only one eye.

Both of these may very well have been exhaustively researched and or studied
by Google but I think that with the semi-controversial design of this
computer, Google might put an "Is It Safe?" section to their marketing
material explaining how they've addressed safety concerns.

Also, in regards to privacy... As some have mentioned the concerns of being
video taped while in the presence of wearing Google glass may prompt a lot of
businesses/agencies to disallow their use while in their establishment with
signs posted on the door. I don't think jewelry stores or banks or other
security prone establishments would want people to so easily be able to
comprehensively case the joint with almost complete anonymity. Plus fears of
an Orwellian future where everybody is watching everybody for some unknown
third-party viewer would not be unfounded.

Aside from that, I don't really see the value in Google glass. Perhaps it's
just the way they've marketed it.... but it just looks like a cell phone
that's been moved to your eye. I really don't need to start seeing POV films
of people eating dinner or highlights from a drunken night out. The glass does
not seem to offer much more usability than a smartphone and some duct tape for
POV filming. Not to mention that I believe Mom may have already patented this
idea: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaHUpWuqNHY> (Futurama)

------
taylodl
You're paying $1500 to beta test a product. What's not clear is whether you
get the final product when ready.

~~~
revorad
_You're paying $1500 to beta test a product_

You say that as if this is a USB dongle. This is _sci-fi_ stuff. Who cares if
it's beta?

~~~
sytelus
No to throw cold water here but Is it really? It seems to be rather trivial
integration of currently known and available technologies with bit of
miniaturization efforts. Nothing that 5 year old iPhone can't do with albeit
more convenience. Space elevators, 100% artificial life form, fusion reactor
of the size AA batteries - now that, my friend, would be sci-fi stuff.

~~~
Swizec
IT'S A HUD FOR REAL LIFE!

WHAT ARE YOU NOT GETTING HERE?

~~~
waterlesscloud
My phone is a HUD for my hand.

~~~
SeanLuke
A HUD is transparent.

~~~
talmir
If you are thinking HUD like we see in games then transparency is a relatively
recent thing. If you look further back HUDs used to be opaque. The words
"Heads Up Display" says nothing about it having to be transparent :)

------
TeeWEE
I think this technology could replace mobile phones. I just notice how often i
need to grab my mobile phone, just to check some little peace of information I
need. When i'm in the car I cannot grab it.

Note that the glasses look ugly, but they are already developing lenses with
screens in it. This is basically technology becoming one with your brain.

I want one bad!

~~~
kmfrk
As a frequent user of public transportation, people who intend to replace
their phone with Glass should burn in hell for all eternity.

~~~
TeeWEE
Why? Are you afraid that you are on a video, or pictures being taken? That's
indeed a problem. The voyourism with google glass.. They have to think of
something to fix that. Like a led light wich tells you it's recordign.

~~~
kmfrk
I hate it when people have loud phone conversations - especially if I can hear
the person at the other end. ;)

And you're right about the voyeurism element as well, although it doesn't
really apply to me as a twenty-something guy. There is a reason phone cameras
are required to make a loud "SNAP" sound. With Glass, that may very well not
be the case. Although you will be able to notice the dude with the weird
glasses ogling you, I guess.

------
gfodor
Here's one quirky thing though, there are moments in life where everyone
around you wants to take a picture. Like, a celebrity walks by. Or you are at
the top of a long climb. Or you're at the zoo. Are people in these situations
going to be just a sea of voices saying in round "OK Glass take a picture, OK
Glass take a picture"?

~~~
wwwtyro
That's what I don't like about voice control. I'm too shy/reserved to do that
kind of thing in public.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
COMPUTER! Run sex offender search on current target!

------
pilooch
Question that comes immediately to my mind: I'm wearing glasses (short-
sighted), so an augmented pair seems like an easy step, can I wear GGlass on
top of my prescription glasses ?

~~~
PeterisP
The officially suggested way is to put prescription lenses in a GGlass "frame"
and some of the publicly seen GGlass usages have been with such frames/lenses.

~~~
pilooch
Been discussing this with a friend today. Considering a short-sighted person,
wearing prescription glasses: the problem is where to put the GGlass "screen".

* it makes sense to put it inside, i.e. before the lens, because as short-sighted, vision is fine at this distance. Problem is that there's not much space between the lens and the eye / eyebrow

* putting it outside, i.e. after the lens, appears more feasible but awkward as the distortion from the lens may be difficult to bear

* putting it on top of the prescription glasses frame makes sense again, but the lens usually covers a good chunk of the eye range, so this may put the GGlass to far on the periphery.

Not sure what makes the most sense here.

------
MojoJolo
This Google Glass requires internet connection right? I like to know how
effective it will be to those country with a limited or not so good data
connection. Here in us, LTE is just starting, and mobile data service is not
really that good. It's good to have this kind of gadgets, but I hope
technologies in some non first world country can catch up. I really love to
own one immediately, but I think, location wise, it's not a good idea yet.

~~~
recycleme
It seems like some of its main attractions will require an internet
connection. WiFi is not everywhere and my wireless network is really slow.

------
guelo
I don't understand why they keep pushing the niche GoPro-style use case, and
there's no way it has the battery life to really work for the livestream use
case for more than a few minutes. I think the main use case would be people
that want to look like they're paying attention in social situations and can't
have their heads buried in their phone but still want to check their email and
texts. But maybe that's not a sexy enough idea to sell. One thing that's
missing from this new site is the eye-gestures that seemed to be part of demos
last year. If it's going to be only voiced-controlled that would ruin it for
the discreet-email-checking use case.

~~~
wklauss
Because its the only use case that will make sense at the beginning. These
videos look interesting but they are staged, no matter how casual de look is.

As of this moment, Google Glass is just a glorified wireless webcam. It might
turn into something more than that in the future, no doubt, and I'm hopeful
like you are that it will, but for the first generations what you are going to
see is a lot of people using them in extreme sports to film POV activities and
sharing them on Youtube. Nothing more.

Even if it's not only voice controlled theres no discreet-email-checking use
case in social situations. Have you ever tried to talk to a person who is
constantly looking away, even if his head still points to you?

------
NicoJuicy
This actually lookes awesome. To bad Europe is left behind for a big launch :(
(but i live in Belgium, i'm used to it by now :P)

~~~
Draiken
You're still in EU... imagine us in the third world countries.

~~~
NicoJuicy
I didn't meant in a disrespectfull way.

I'm just saying that stuff like the Nexus (any of them) haven't been released
here.

Which probably is the same thing as with you :)

------
ojbyrne
One thing I'm curious about, and don't see mentioned anywhere on those pages
(though I didn't watch the videos). Can you use Google Glass if you already
wear glasses?

~~~
bsimpson
I asked at I/O. Eventually, yes, but for now, you'd need to wear contacts. I
don't know if that's changed, but at the time, there was no way to mount
prescription lenses.

------
oinksoft
This seems like an exciting idea, but they're going to have to find a way to
make the camera more discrete. People won't be comfortable always thinking
they're on camera.

I think these things will need to use cell phone technology to work? I
wouldn't be comfortable having a cell phone up against my head like that all
day, even if this is paranoia.

~~~
otibom
_In the area of biological effects and medical applications of non-ionizing
radiation approximately 25,000 articles have been published over the past 30
years. Despite the feeling of some people that more research needs to be done,
scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most
chemicals. Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, the
WHO concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any
health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields.
However, some gaps in knowledge about biological effects exist and need
further research._

Source: <http://www.who.int/peh-emf/about/WhatisEMF/en/index1.html>

------
andybak
Wow. We're going to need more bandwidth. The carriers need to fix their
business model or the get the hell out of the way.

~~~
alexqgb
This is why opening the portion of the spectrum no longer use for television
brodcasting (known as White Space) is such a big deal.

Thanks to the accelerating bananafication of our republic, there's a very good
chance that the most valuable applications are going to emerge outside the US.
Whether or not this produces enough pressure to loosen the power of our
wireless telcos remains to be seen.

<http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spaces_(radio)>

------
krautsourced
Can't wait for the next bunch of vomit inducing videos... or am I the only one
who can't deal with all the head bobbing?

As for the HUD itself - I love the idea. But the problem is, while I love the
idea, I'm not sure it wouldn't be super distracting in real life. Yes it works
for fighter pilots and whatnot, but, to take the sample video as a benchmark,
when I'm about to catch my girlfriend hurling towards me at high speed from a
trapeze (which, like you I assume, I do on a regular basis), I'm not sure
she'd be happy with me being distracted by some shit popping up in my view...

------
api
Never used Glass, but I'm inclined to suspect that it's the Apple Newton:
ahead of its time, ground breaking, probably the ancestor of many things to
come, but not here yet.

What's missing: full viewports instead of just the top corner thing, probably
better resolution, and most importantly cheap ubiquitous wireless broadband. I
am not paying another $60/month to have Glass in addition to a smartphone,
etc. Pretty much all progress in computer networking and networked devices
depends on breaking the carrier oligopolies.

~~~
theon144
I agree that they're ahead of their time, but I totally disagree that it's
missing full viewports. In fact, I prefer that it doesn't take up my whole
FOV.

For one, it gives others a clear clue that you're somehow using the device,
and it can easily be ignored if needed. Not to mention that full viewport
wouldn't really be that much of an improvement - AR simply isn't there yet,
and for most of the uses (I don't suppose you'd go around reading novels with
this), this suffices.

------
arihant
Except for handsfree picture taking, I'm not sure what this device does that
Pebble watch does not. I'm much more comfortable wearing a watch on my hand
than mounting a camera on my face.

Also, whenever I do take pictures I really wanna take, I subconsciously take
care of picture composition by moving my phone around a bit. In Glass, I'll be
moving my face around?

~~~
nazgulnarsil
I'm with you. For now pebble is way more interesting. maybe in 2-3 years
google glass will have killer apps.

------
xradionut
Here's a use case: House shopping

You are driving through an older neighborhood close to commuter rail station
looking for a house for you and your spouse. Driving past the station "posts"
the schedule for the next three trains and bus. You can "see" the Zillow and
the tax values of the houses you are looking are in real time. You glance at
the elementary school on the corner and the rating comes up. Glance at another
house and you see it is a rental where the police have been called 7 times in
the past 6 months. Two doors down lives a sex offender. The trees in the are
are a type that your wife is allergic to. The fire hydrant on the corner was
last maintained in November. The street was repaved in 2007 when new water
lines were installed. Animal control last patrolled on Tuesday. The deli down
the street is expensive, but has good reviews.

And during this whole process, all you did was look out, while driving, not
glance at your phone or car console.

~~~
stcredzero
If you can turn it off when you're done, that sounds great.

~~~
jff
You could, you know, take it off your head. Or exit the house-hunting
application.

~~~
stcredzero
Exiting applications is now considered advanced, hacker-level stuff.

------
joshgel
I can't wait for this to be real. So many applications already being planned
(in my head).

------
meric
Awesome video which looks almost just as awesome even if you take out the
glass. But nevertheless, awesome product.

------
qompiler
This is a real bummer, I have to wear glasses and can't wear lenses. Is there
any information if there will be support for custom glasses being attached?

~~~
zacharypinter
Here's some pictures posted in one of the other comments:

[https://encrypted-
tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQr6-v...](https://encrypted-
tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQr6-vNh5qMQsc7Fm178YcATxtqh7RBX1BWVIyev5eohAM0VDj)

[https://encrypted-
tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvbW54...](https://encrypted-
tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvbW54qLIkleLXs6mwdqHyA1MuyMgAYd9HuOGeO-_5CZ5x1d7D)

They're definitely focused on support people who wear glasses.

------
j_col
Cue an increase in personal injuries. I really hope people are not going to
drive with these :-(

------
znowi
Sadly, as someone already wearing glasses, it's not an option for me.

~~~
Lost_BiomedE
Posted on other glass thread:

I think it looks better with glasses: [https://encrypted-
tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQr6-v...](https://encrypted-
tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQr6-vNh5qMQsc7Fm178YcATxtqh7RBX1BWVIyev5eohAM0VDj)

Here is sunglasses on Brin from opposite profile: [https://encrypted-
tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvbW54...](https://encrypted-
tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvbW54qLIkleLXs6mwdqHyA1MuyMgAYd9HuOGeO-_5CZ5x1d7D)

~~~
artursapek
_I think it looks better with glasses_

In a high-contrast 200px image.

------
zipop
Maybe I'm not seeing (no pun intended) it, but I don't want something
distracting to me and others sitting on my face. I get lifecasting will be a
cool thing but I'd rather have a discreet cam on my shirt collar or elsewhere
on my person.

------
sathishmanohar
Am I the only one, who hit reload for like 48 times, thinking the page is not
loaded yet, Before realizing this is actually the page?

~~~
mhartl
You're not. Maybe Google tested it and can prove it's good, but to me the
landing page seems terribly confusing.

------
churreiro
Demo video looks awesome. But what about privacy? I am not a privacy lunatic
and not trying to complain (Scifi is here!) but wouldn't be this handling lots
of problems against privacy?

Obviously photo cameras also have the same issue but still you can see when
people is taking photos of you, in this specific case things are slightly
different...

BTW, actually I like the design, looks like a totally new era of communication
;)

------
simonrobb
There's a lot of comments here about how Glass will affect social
interactions, which is fair enough as that's the easiest use case to grasp at
the moment, but the thing that struck me most was the tiny snippet of footage
of that jeweler (sculpter?) creating the glass tiger, almost like it was an
afterthought in the marketing team's mind. However it struck me - suddenly
there is potential to introduce a HUD into industries everywhere, which I
think could have some far-reaching benefits. For example, imagine a surgeon
having vital signs overlaid on their vision as they worked, or a superimposed
CAT scan, or whatever else would help them out. Or (being trained as an
engineer myself, I understand how much value this would have), an overlay of
the structural drawings as I inspect a large building site. To be honest I
agree with most of the negative sentiment towards how Glass could damage
social interactions, and I wouldn't be unhappy if it never saw the light of
day in that use case. But there is incredible potential as a productivity
tool.

------
computerslol
Part of me really wants one. The other part of me is concerned.

The concerned part is my developer self. I am having a hard time not seeing
this as extremely limiting from an interaction perspective. All I am seeing is
GPS and text input (from speech). I'd imagine there will be an accelerometer,
but I couldn't imagine asking users to jerk their heads around to point at
something. If it came with a glove that tracked a hand or something, I'd be
less nervous.

If this takes off, everyone will get one. It _looks_ like the future. Many
people already feel they can replace their computers with smartphones, what if
they replace their smartphones with this? If I was an average american and
didn't know better, I'd let me 5 year old computer continue to age, chuck my
cell phone, and blow my technology budget for the year to get one of these
instead... It's a device that as far as I can see has no decent ability to
capture pointing.

How do you scroll in it without looking like an idiot that talks to yourself
in public?

------
Unoeufisenough
Flawless, zero-latency voice recognition under those conditions is rather
implausible. Otherwise though, an impressive vision of the promise of AR.

For all the doubters here, notice the enormous number of comments generated
already. Even though we are (rightly) scared about some of the aspects of
glass and ubiquitous AR, we sure are collectively fascinated by the idea.

------
husam212
Google Glass project sets a new level of privacy infringement, I can't think
of any necessity of it that deserves such a sacrifice.

------
russtyeh
Can think of this helping productivity when assembling things/reading manuals.

Imagine how much quicker assembling IKEA furniture would become, no more
downing tools and picking up the manual, the manual would update with you real
time!

Also with tutorials on learning and making things like circuits, knitting,
cooking etc. They should have highlighted use cases like this.

------
yalogin
I still don't get the practical use case for this. I see it could be cool, the
ad campaign is good, but why do I use this?

------
codex
On private property you will need the owner's permission to record video; in
malls you can be forbidden if signs are posted. Given the unease that some
people feel being recorded, I wonder how soon it will be before these are
banned in shopping malls and in businesses, like Segways were on many city
sidewalks.

------
ybaumes
I am really excited, but really does everyone wants Google to track your path
everywhere you go, everything single stuff you're watching? :-/ I am assuming
the glasses themselves have nearly no cpu capabilities, thus it must be
mandatory to export any computation wirelessly toward Google servers, right?

~~~
wmeredith
>>but really does everyone wants Google to track your path everywhere you go,
everything single stuff you're watching?

I feel like the speedy proliferation of smartphones into the fabric of
everyday life has answered your question with a resounding, "No one cares".
The benefits of what essentially amounts to ESP (text, email, telephony) and
fact-based omniscience (access to the internet, real time directions, weather,
etc.) far outweigh any privacy concerns in the vast majority of people's
minds. I have my reservations and concerns of course, but the mental
empowerment is just too much to pass up.

~~~
stcredzero
How much is empowerment, and how much is noise?

------
dysoco
Isn't the HUD a bit... distracting? I mean, I was looking the video and if I
focused in the HUD I couldn't watch the "real life" and vice-versa, how would
that work in the real Glass?

Also, it seems like for now it's only focused in social features... I should
get some friends before getting the Glass.

~~~
vellum
I played World of Warcraft for a bit, and there was a HUD overlay onto the
screen. After a while, you kind of get used to it. Also, the devs could make
it so that you could control the opacity of the HUD, the position/size, or
turn it on/off based on gestures.

~~~
artursapek
_I played World of Warcraft for a bit, and there was a HUD overlay onto the
screen. After a while, you kind of get used to it._

Exactly. These things are not for people who want to experience real life.

~~~
blhack
what is "real" life? I just bought a coffee, but didn't make it myself, a
machine did. is it real?

~~~
artursapek
Yeah. You drank it, right? You weren't watching a character drink a machine-
made coffee on a screen.

~~~
blhack
And your girlfriend who was looking at instragram while she was walking with
you, was she looking at the pictures, or was she watching another character
look at them?

~~~
stcredzero
She probably smelled way better than her avatar.

(And if you think this is just being crude, then something essential and
primal has been lost for you.)

~~~
jff
Not if she's a WoW player...

------
carlob
The fact that you could potentially stream whatever you see all the time makes
me wonder if there will be places where it will be compulsory to switch them
off, probably you won't be able to bring one at a concerts or sports event
because of copyright.

And I guess it's a safe bet that you wouldn't want to take it with you on a
night out, because there's always someone who'd rather not be filmed while
being underage drinking, or on a date with their lover or doing drugs. Just
think of the implications of being in a bar knowing that potentially a few
people in said bar might be filming everything that's happening.

~~~
philipbjorge
What's interesting is that you can already do this at concerts with your
existing smartphone [1].

Not to mention people already take plenty of pictures at bars.

[1] <http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/stream-live-video-smartphone/>

------
syassami
I'd really love to have this in a non-voice activated version that would
simply analyse my brain activity and execute the commands. It still feels
slightly awkward or unintuitive to speak your commands to a phone in an open
area. If you could think "Take a picture" and have the glass perform that
command it would really be incredible. I don't think we're that far off either
with fMRI studies regarding object recognition progress.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_magnetic_resonance_i...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_magnetic_resonance_imaging)

~~~
kybernetikos
'simply' is not a word to use lightly in that sentence.

I've experimented with brain controllers and certainly at the moment, they
leave a lot to be desired. At this stage, I'd rather have an unobtrusive
clicker/keyer on one hand, a bluetooth throat mike or do gesture detection
through the video than any kind of brain interface.

I do have an idea that maybe you could do something with pressure changes in
the ear canal, but I'd have to do some experimentation to see if it's really
practical.

Basically you want something unobtrusive that doesn't take significant chunks
of your body out of action.

------
hnriot
Brilliantly made video, Google are obviously using a good ad agency, their ads
now sell a lifestyle rather than a product, as all good ads do.

the product itself will likely cause a few pedestrians to be kills, a few
drivers to get into crashes and a few horse riders to fall off. Maybe in a few
thousand years the brain will evolve to receive so much stimulation, but I
find most people are already swamped with information overload.

I hope Glass picks up some buyers because this kind of technology will bring
about other, more useful inventions, but right now this is a solution in
search of a problem.

------
Yuioup
Once again, Porno has reached a new level.

------
kenferry
Ok, if these images are real, I'm very impressed.

But I'm concerned that they're mockups. It is very, very dangerous to make
people think you can do more than you actually can.

The "directions" demo image features full color, right in the middle of your
field of view, with a display resolution that allows super light weight fonts
and subtle glow effects.

Is anyone able to comment on whether this is a realistic portrayal?

I know they have _something_, but I hope what they've shown here isn't
vaporware.

~~~
drivebyacct2
The technology part is easy. Google Now already does all of this basically.

------
eb0la
It reminds me the Gargoyles from Snow Crash
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash>

------
fitandfunction
This is a dream for retailers. "Augmenting" the in-store shopping experience
has been a non-starter. Want to get product reviews and more info about this
item? Well, why don't you pull out your phone, turn on the barcode app and
scan the barcode. Now, you could ostensibly look at a item and get relevant
additional information on-screen.

~~~
vellum
Depends on the retailer. This will just accelerate the process of turning
brick & mortar stores into Amazon showrooms.

------
dcaranda
Any new sensors/hardware not on a typical smartphone? Is the big advantage
essentially a pervasive screen?

I ask because a common way to think of mobile app innovation is in terms of
hardware advances: Mobile Data: Blackberry Email GPS: Maps, Local Services
(Foursquare) iPhone 4 Camera Upgrade: Instagram The list goes on...

What's the key hardware advancement here?

~~~
yakiv
What's the difference between a smart phone and a laptop? A smart phone can go
with you everywhere to a greater extent than a laptop can. I think that glass
would push that farther.

------
njharman
#ifihadglass, standing on the shoulders of Prof Mann and MIT Media Labs I
would reach into the future.

~~~
jff
If Professor Mann would ever share any real information on how to make your
own Eyetap, or share any of his software, or really tell anybody anything
except, "Yeah, I claim I'm doing all this cool stuff, too bad you can't try it
ner ner ner", I'd care more about what he's done.

------
codex
Bluetooth headsets used to be cool. Now they just seem obnoxious when worn all
the time. I wonder if Google Glass will ever reach the obnoxious level. A
curved-screen watch device would be more subtle, and is probably the better
all-around device.

------
cedricd
Bit tongue in cheek... but this sets the clock ticking for Microsoft going
'oh, crap, someone is defining a new computing paradigm. Let's get on that
before they're way ahead of us again'. Any bets as to when Microsoft announces
Windows for Eyewear?

------
JacobJans
Now the Chinese Government Hackers can be at your birthday party too!

------
mfincham
So where do I buy a chinese knockoff version of this that I can run Debian on?
It's a very exciting hardware notion, and I'd love to hack around with some
software on it.

~~~
lexandstuff
Not a Chinese knockoff, but Vuzix are trying to get a similar product to
market: <http://www.vuzix.com/consumer/products_m100.html>

~~~
mfincham
Looks plausible, thanks!

------
richeyrw
Is there any chance that Google decided to start developing self-driving cars
just to have an answer for the insane safety hazard the glasses are going to
pose?

------
tibbon
I'm glad so many of you don't want them- increases my changes of getting one
soon :)

"No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."

------
rdl
I hope they give one to David Brin ASAP.

------
ForFreedom
So what's the battery life for USD 1500?

------
neopba
Unfortunately, in such countries as Ukraine Google Glass is forbidden due to
"spy devices restriction" :(

------
tucson
where the videos (<http://www.google.com/glass/start/how-it-feels/>) recorded
with Google glass, or another camera (GoPro?)?

~~~
ben1040
I'm guessing at least some of it came from Glass. This clip from Fashion Week
last fall was shot on Glass and part of it made its way into this video.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=30Pjl31cyDY#t=134s)

------
appreneur
It's like human will become the typical "wall-e" movie humans consuming
content, becoming fat and no time for interaction at all. I dread the future
where no one talks to anyone by looking into eye , since their eyes are
already preoccupied with "glass".

------
RoryH
What is to stop a malicious person standing next to you saying

"Ok Glass... rm -rf /" ?

~~~
Wintamute
Umm, Google not allowing password-less sudo voice commands?

~~~
nwh
I wouldn't expect keyboard input to be interpreted by a root shell, but
Android did that too.

------
minikomi
Looking forward to being able to adblock all the billboards in Tokyo

------
igravious
What are the specs of the specs? And don't tell me to Google it.

------
samstave
Every law enforcement officer should be required to wear this.

------
pastaking
Love it! Despite all the negativity here, I still want one :)

------
mepcotterell
I'll take one with a wayfarer blue blocker attachment!

------
corporalagumbo
so it turns out that people sound pretty dumb saying aloud a lot of the things
we would otherwise tap without hesitation... hmm...

------
jasongaya
I love google glass when it launch.?

------
runn1ng
I know it's a terrible note.... but I can't tell if that black person with the
google glass on the photo is a man or a woman.

I really can't tell.

------
negativity
I hate this in the exact same way I hate drones.

I will hate people who use this in the exact same way I hate people who use
drones.

------
s1s1
this glass is a prosthetic device ... "aug·men·ta·tion", please.

------
taligent
Those are the use cases ? Are they serious ? Not a single one of those occurs
routinely enough to warrant you wearing glasses all the time.

I don't understand why they aren't positioning this for more serious markets
e.g. education, training, factories, stock taking, hospitals, administration
etc. Could have been far more interesting and allowed some far more
interesting tie ins with their existing products.

~~~
brudgers
_"Those are the use cases ?"_

Those and making pornos. I see a whole Glass getting its very own tag.

~~~
WA
I don't think so. "GoPro" isn't a common tag either.

------
af3
Glasses from ad company. Good luck with that, I'll skip.

~~~
anoncow
They will really have your eyeballs now!

I am still interested though cause perhaps we will have one by canonical in
2020!

------
dschiptsov
Well. Excellent marketing video, targeting a modern, active, sophisticated
consumer - exactly what they think about themselves.

A completely new kind of a _status gadget_ to show your "success" (as a
consumer) that everyone could see.

A innovative way to deliver location and context aware ads right to the
consumer - better targeting.

Well, it could be bigger than iPhone (without major software glitches).

Time to buy GOOG.)))

------
gcb0
<https://plus.google.com/+projectglass>

"Project Glass [Verified Name]" ...riiiiight.

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dreamdu5t
But does it have a CLI?

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rogerchucker
okglass.com has been registered by Google already -
[http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=okg...](http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=okglass.com)

[Someone posted this on Gizmodo's comments]

------
ninetenel
When some guy on the subway with a camera attached to his face starts staring
at me .. my desire is going to be to rip them off his face and stomp on them.

enjoy your intellectual leashes

~~~
GFischer
You mean like this?

[http://io9.com/5926587/what-may-be-the-worlds-first-
cybernet...](http://io9.com/5926587/what-may-be-the-worlds-first-cybernetic-
hate-crime-unfolds-in-french-mcdonalds)

It seems you're not alone, sadly - I disagree with your professed desire for
violence, but I appreciate your honesty in putting it into writing.

------
PavlovsCat
They can't even get themselves to put this on a fresh domain, because then
they'd miss out on all the search engine user cookies. How surprising.

------
itistoday2
Page doesn't load video on Firefox 19 (Mac) for me (with Adblock disabled).
Anyone else have this problem?

------
samtaylor29
Which rock have you been hiding under?

~~~
icoder
This news is actually just out, the next phase has started: 8000 more glasses
available, apply before feb 27th for a (albeit slim) chance to get one.

[edit: mistakenly wrote wrong month]

~~~
zapdrive
Which rock have you been hiding under? Its almost the end of February.

~~~
BerislavLopac
"The deadline for applications is February 27th."

~~~
zapdrive
His original comment said "January"

