
Google Glass - If I Had Glass - GvS
http://www.google.com/glass/start/how-to-get-one/
======
leoc
Two thoughts:

1) Google is obviously terrified that being seen wearing Glasses will brand
you as terribly nerdy. (Compare the 'gargoyle' stigma in /Snow Crash/.) So to
control the early perceptions they're doing a heavily-publicised early release
to some carefully-selected mobile-phone-company-commercial beautiful people.
The ideal candidate will be taking photos for /National Geographic/ while
cave-diving for her Rhodes Scholarship. She will also be rather attractive,
and not a wearer of prescription glasses. (Compare
<http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/05/08/the-sophie-choice> . Courting
Steven Levy seems to have turned out pretty poorly for Google, eh?)

2) Glasses looks very promising, but isn't it a bit of a stretch to call what
it does Augmented Reality? AR more or less implies a HUD, or some other means
of superimposing CGI on what you see of the real world. But the
<http://www.google.com/glass/start/how-it-feels/> video seems to suggest that
instead Glasses takes a "picture-in-picture" approach, and the screen's
transparency seems to serve mainly to make it feel less oppressive, and to
minimise the amount it obstructs your vision when the whole screen is not in
use. Goggles <http://www.google.ie/mobile/goggles/> is more of a true AR
system. (I'm not suggesting this is a bad decision: in light of the current
problems with head-tracking [http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/raster-
scan-displays-m...](http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/raster-scan-
displays-more-than-meets-the-eye/) and precise geolocation it seems like a
good one.)

~~~
jgh
I disagree that people will be branded as 'nerdy' or like 'gargoyle's in snow-
crash. I think they'll be seen more like the people who always have a
bluetooth headset on their ear (i.e. douchey).

~~~
leoc
I'm convinced that perceived nerdiness is a hazard for Google. I will accept
that perceived douchiness is another one. I'm sure that the marketers are
standing by to reject any application that even faintly suggests that you
might use the Glasses to photoblog your dinner.

~~~
acoyfellow
I think I disagree.. The rise of the "brogrammer" is proof that nerd culture
is not only on the rise, but actually revered as the new "cool".

Look at television for example.. Asthon Kutcher is the highest paid actor on
TV, and he basically stars as himself on Two and a Half men. Ashton is a
product evangelist + angel investor. He makes nerds look awesome

Another example from (popular culture/TV) is Big Bang Theory. "Toward the end
of its run, Friends was topping out around 20 million viewers, meaning Big
Bang is now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one of network TV's biggest and
longest comedy successes."[1]

Movies like The Social Network + jOBS will further push the perceived
nerdiness for Google into a good thing, not a negative thing. Our culture is
shifting.

[1]- [http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/01/big-
ban...](http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/01/big-bang-theory-
ratings/60625/)

~~~
__--__
It hasn't shifted that far. Geek culture itself is still considered "uncool",
even in silicon valley. When popular culture uses the term "Geek" they really
mean "Hipster." It's the aesthetics that are considered cool, not the
substance.

The shift you're perceiving is this: people with geeky hobbies and professions
are now allowed the opportunity to be cool. That wasn't an option before the
dot com boom. Thanks to the mass amounts of wealth and resources geeks have
generated, we've been allowed a seat at the table, provided we behave
ourselves. IE: no segways, no VR goggles, no LARP.

That distinction is exactly why Google is taking the tactic they are - they
want the glass associated more with Apple and less with Segway.

------
jgrahamc
Every time I see Google Glass I think "Oh, cool" and then I realize that what
I want/need in everyday life is de-augmented reality (i.e. just vanilla
reality). I've already got devices buzzing etc. to get my attention for
"important thing".

The argument for things like Glass is that they will make the merging of
reality and technology seamless which could have great advantages. I fear,
however, that it just means I'll have a thing right in front of my face asking
for my attention.

The $1B idea with Google Glass is not the technology of putting it in front of
your eyes etc., it's figuring out the software that filters down what's shown
to the stuff you actually want/need. I don't think we've done that
successfully in other domains yet.

~~~
eps
> _Every time I see Google Glass I think..._

... do I really want fragments of my life to be recorded by total strangers
and then shared with God knows who? I really don't.

It's a cool tech, but its social implications are far from being trivial and
benign.

~~~
aaronbasssett
So I take it you never go outside? CCTV is already omnipresent. I'm not saying
I agree with it, just that there are larger surveillance battles to be fought.

~~~
potatolicious
Most CCTV cameras are private and not monitored. You install them and have
them record on a loop - old data is automatically erased to make room for new
data. When something bad happens (an accident, a robbery, etc) recording is
stopped and the existing data is handed over to relevant parties.

This is _far_ less problematic than an omnipresent, monitored, shared,
catalogued and indexed in perpetuity, video system.

------
ry0ohki
Just to clarify you are not winning anything free here (still an amazing
opportunity though):

"Explorers will each need to pre-order a Glass Explorer Edition for $1500 plus
tax and attend a special pick-up experience, in person"

~~~
pvarangot
They need people with cash, otherwise their users won't be able to afford all
the horses, planes and balloons necessary to enjoy the full Google Glass
experience.

~~~
homosaur
You may be right, no one wants their tech demo to be someone standing in line
to cash checks.

~~~
yk
On the other hand, a shoulder surfing app is a concept unique to Google
glasses. ( Since taking out an iPhone is too obvious).

------
jwdunne
Oh man, I wish I was in the US, I've been raving about glass for a while. I
really think it opens up new doors.

One way is combing augmented reality and social networking with Glass. There
are a number of cool things that come of this.

One is being able to look at someone also using the Glass app and being
presented with their profile, plus options to send messages or view more
information. It may even be possible even if they don't have Glass using a
combo of geolocation and facial recognition. The most exciting bit is sending
a message between two glass users because it'd be pretty much like telepathy.

When the 'internet of thing' comes about, it may even be posdible to control
all your various devices without lifting a finger. I could look at my kettle
from across the room and flick it on!

There are tonnes of possibilities and I think, especially when it's on a
contact lens, it will make what's currently considered magical (telepathy,
psychokinesis, etc) a reality, just like the plane removed the magic from
human flight.

I think wearable computing opens up many exciting doors and the two thoughts
above only scratch the surface of the possibilities I imagine.

In fact, I feel so strongly about ot I'd emigrate to the US just to get my
hands on this awesome tech. I need to get onto it ASAP.

~~~
PanMan
You want to send messages to people you see? There is this other cool tech for
that, it's called voice.

~~~
batiste
For a moment I missed the irony and thought this was a real name for a
product. I almost got excited.

------
cyphersanctus
"Explorers will each need to pre-order a Glass Explorer Edition for $1500 plus
tax and attend a special pick-up experience, in person, in New York, San
Francisco or Los Angeles." Interesting. Now we gladly apply for the chance to
pay a company $1500 plus tax for a product.

~~~
kaolinite
It's not a product yet. It's a development device and it has a lot of
interest. Having to pay $1500 for it will mean that the people who apply will
be serious about building things for it.

It's like applying and paying for a development kit to a games console, etc.

~~~
cyphersanctus
Fair enough. Nevertheless, a company like Google could certainly afford to be
gracious with developers and let them contribute to the future product's
success without making them pay a hefty amount.

~~~
dferlemann
Think this in Google's perspective. If developers are begging to take their
money, why would they refuse?

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I think it's more likely they want to filter for people that are serious about
it.

------
tzaman
I hope I meet someone wearing this. I'll get really close then say "OK Glass,
Google porn". Or better yet, "OK Glass, take a picture and send it to
everyone"

~~~
rikacomet
voice recognition, will not work :P Nice try though!

~~~
VLM
It'll work just fine with "famous" people. All it takes is enough digital
audio. I think newsreader/journalist types will have the worst of it, and
unfortunately hype has to flow past them, so there are going to be PR issues.

I could imagine entire soundboards being created to spoof people into viewing
internet shock sites, etc.

For example, lets pick on Leo Laporte, because I like him and he's famous in
the tech journalism community. He must have thousands of hours, tens of
thousands of hours, of digital audio free for use on the net. So all you need
is a simple audio editor and an audio player to play the spliced commandline
and you can spoof him. So at any time in his long recorded career has Leo ever
said the words "girls" and "one" and "two" and "image" and "cup" and "google"
and "search"? Well, I think he could be shock site'd pretty well with this
technique. Not just shock sites, but rickrolls would be funny too.

This takes some planning ahead, but not much.

~~~
3JPLW
If they're smart, they'll pick up the bone vibrations from the wearer. You
know how your voice sounds different when you hear it back from a recording?
They should be able to detect when the wearer is saying something in the same
way you hear yourself when talking.

~~~
darth_aardvark
They're already doing that produce sound.
[http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-02/04/google-
glass-...](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-02/04/google-glass-bone-
vibration)

------
btipling
I saw someone in a store with those glasses and I had to say I felt a bit
weirded out by the thought they could be recording things. Does it indicate to
other people if it is recording? These things are going to run into some
social issues I think.

~~~
DanBC
That's an interesting reaction.

You're sort of in public. You're just living your everyday life. The person
recording doesn't know you; probably has no interest in you. Why is it a
problem that they're recording? (Note that I'm not saying you're wrong! Or
that you should change your mind!)

Candid photography has provided some fantastic photographs over the years.
There's some amazing social commentary. With a bit of luck we'll get something
similar (as well as petabytes of junk) from people recording everyday life.

~~~
scrumper
> Why is it a problem that they're recording?

It's a problem because while I don't expect privacy in public, I do expect my
presence to be transitory and under my control. The two seconds I spend
scratching my arse walking down the street are forgotten by all who saw it
instantly, but not if that moment is immortalised in flash memory. When my
wife's skirt blows up in an autumn breeze she gets embarrassed, I get amused
and the van drivers get titillated. We've all forgotten it minutes later; now
some passing pervert with terminator glasses can grab a freeze frame and share
her misfortune with the world.

Henri Cartier-Bresson didn't have his camera up to his eye constantly. By the
time he'd reacted to her skirt billowing up and readied his camera she'd have
yanked it down again.

~~~
btipling
I feel like someone should invent a directed emp pulse weapon so I can disable
these permanently whenever I see them. What a horrible future awaits us. I
hope Google glass fails. I realize this is inevitable, but I'm not ready, and
neither is my family.

~~~
DanBC
Let's hope they don't have a pacemaker.

------
andyjohnson0
Obvious idea: Peril Sensitive Glasses [1] that go opaque at the first sign of
danger

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_The_Hitchhikers_G...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_The_Hitchhikers_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Joo_Janta_200_Super-
Chromatic_Peril_Sensitive_Sunglasses)

(Edit: HN is stripping apostrophe in link - should be Hitchhiker's_Guide)

------
Swizec
Wonder if "US only" means you just have to be there for the in-person pickup.
Because I am totally willing to do that ...

That said, I wonder how difficult it would be to modify Glass so it mounts on
my regular glasses.

Either way, I applied. I won't be picked, but at least I tried :)

~~~
mmahemoff
No chance unfortunately. Even the IO 2012 signup was only available to US
based attendees.

There's regulatory hurdles for them to cover.

~~~
Swizec
Regulatory hurdles schmurdles. If we could get the iPad and iPhone years
before they were officially available here, we'll find a way to get Glass too
:P

------
primitur
I just finished my first Augmented Reality app, which is rolling out to its
intended users as I type, so I'm a bit biased about this .. but personally I
think: AR is AMAZING.

I've used the Vuforia SDK, and the ability to track paper with accuracy on the
basis of a well-designed customized brand or design layout .. this is
fantastic.

So my app is to demonstrate how AR can overlay and track over print, and edit
print materials smoothly .. and I'll be damned if it doesn't work just great.

My next app will be for kids to make planes, in fact. Use the iPhone like a
Magic Loupe, print out the picture, get a folding guide in 3D. Oops, I guess I
gave that idea away for nothin' ..

------
GHFigs
Without denying that it's "neat", I'd like to be on record as looking askance
at the fact that a company that makes >90% of revenue from advertising wants
to sell me a tiny screen to put an inch in front of my eye.

~~~
saraid216
Google is sort of on record on doing cool things for mostly-free simply
because they're there to be done.

~~~
mieubrisse
Though Google's a big company, they still have bottom lines to meet. I think
the key word in your comment is "mostly", and how much that means to the
average Glass user. What you think of as "mostly free" may be preciously
expensive to someone else.

------
thejosh
US only? :-(

I am so excited for this I hope they get it fitted for people with bad
eyesight.

~~~
maximveksler
I'm from Israel. Willing to pay for just an opportunity of time slice with
Glass.

Have so many ideas about augmented reality that it truly feels like a set back
to learn its US only.

~~~
rikacomet
the ' and live in the U.S. to apply'

always kills it for me :(

------
maloofma
I'm really excited about these. Between this, driverless cars, and Google
Fiber, I'd say it is safe to say Google has taken over Apple in innovation.

~~~
Void_
Maybe, but I never met anybody wearing Google Glass driving (riding?) a
driverless car. Real artists ship.

------
rytis
I wonder, when this becomes mainstream, what is going to start happening on
the roads? It is already quite dangerous with some drivers texting/talking on
their phones while driving. So now they will have yet another thing to look at
(other than the road they're on)...

Not saying glass is a bad thing, I think it's really great. Just wonder how
(or if) this is going to affect the road safety.

~~~
wuest
I think it could either enhance or diminish road safety. It all comes down to
the person using the technology, though.

The sort of person who would use something like Glass to use GPS or a HUD
(speedo, tach, clock?) without taking their eyes off of the road will likely
be a more safe driver. HUDs have been credited with enhancing aviator safety;
this could bring such innovations to the road.

The sort of person who looks for distractions anyway will now be distracted by
Glass. I'm not sure if this will constitute new distractions or a new way to
consume old ones, though.

~~~
aaronbasssett
Some cars already come with HUDs which are projected onto the windscreen.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1s6SZ73i8A>

------
hirenj
I've always hoped that the Hitchhikers (Zaphod Beeblebrox) method for
initiating an interaction with computers (saying "OK [computer]") would catch
on.

------
jaggederest
The best useful purpose for headmounted displays is lifelogging. A reasonably
high definition stream with audio and video of everything you see during a
waking day (call it 16 hours) is only about a hundred gigabytes.

There's no reason not to do it, at this point. Imagine if we could go back and
look at the lifelogs of historical figures. In order to achieve that, you
basically have to archive everyone, since you don't know in advance if an
individual is going to be important later in life.

People complain about the panopticon, but I'm interested in the opposite.

~~~
stuffihavemade
You can think of no reason someone wouldn't want to have every waking moment
of their life recorded?

~~~
jaggederest
Yup, I'm assuming that we're neglecting permissions and privacy issues -
imagining that nobody but you could ever access it.

~~~
waterlesscloud
And, of course, the government if it's stored on Google's servers.

------
kerno
I really don't care if these look and feel dorky. How often do you get to
participate in using something that looks like the future? I want in.

~~~
meaty
Just remember the people in the past warned us about the future!

------
celticninja
must be a US resident... well thanks google, dont you think that foreigners
may also be interested, you are a multi-national organisation that operates on
a global scale providing a service to users in almost every country, yet only
americans can test your product. It almost guarantees that your test base will
be predominantly white, male, educated and middle class anyway.

~~~
pvillega
Multi-national organisation unable to sell Google Nexus 4/10 in Ireland, where
they have their European HQ. Like if they cared about multinational, except to
reroute taxes...

------
retube
So... you are entering a competition to win the privilage of spending $1,500.
People will sign up for this? Wowser.

~~~
netrus
It's aimed at developers at the moment ... early access to this technology
could give you a small piece of the giant cake that is about to come. Might be
worth much more than $1,500.

------
snarfy
I'm not sure how I would stop myself from rage smashing my Glass the first
time an ad popped up at an inappropriate/dangerous time. Glass could be really
cool, and it could be really, really stupid too.

There will be apps. Will there be free/ad supported apps? I hope not.

~~~
ihuman
Hey, it looks like you're on Hacker News. Amazon thinks you'll love this book.
Do you want me to open this in a new tab in Google Chrome?

------
Gmo
The main thing that Google Glass makes me think of is the movie "Final Cut"
starring Robin Williams : <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364343/>

------
Nursie
I have no idea of the rendering power available in these things, but a kick-
ass alternate reality game with things only glass-wearers can see would be a
good start.

Can it overlay reality with giant scary monsters?

~~~
netrus
No, the display is only in the upper right corner of your vision. Not suited
for overlaying reality.

~~~
Nursie
Aww, shame. Some of the graphics on their site seemed to suggest it was more
central.

------
awjr
Shame only in the US. I want to get these into our UK warehouse.

------
habosa
I think Google really should be running this as a free promotion. A pair of
Google Glass (Glasses? Not sure how to pluralize) is worth less than two
shares of GOOG, they can afford it. A contest to win a free pair (or two)
would really drum up some buzz, I don't understand the strategy of charging
for the winner. It's kind of like those contests where you "win" the chance to
buy super bowl tickets.

------
rikacomet
Is it me, or a fundamental flaw in it, is that someone who wears normal
glasses, can't wear it? It can't act as a stick to a blind man, can it?

~~~
Lost_BiomedE
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)

------
MichailP
Now away from the fun side, this could be a cool gadget for education also.
For example imagine guitar lessons filmed using Glass.

~~~
rikacomet
true, the tutorial videos would become far more detailed and interactive, than
right now.

------
piyush_soni
After all that application process including _collecting ideas from people_ ,
I was really thinking they'd give a pair of glasses to each of those 'selected
candidates' for free. Turned out it's not the case. Would I do all that
application process when I'll possibly be able to buy it after some time
without that for the same money anyway?

------
jpatokal
TL;DR: Google's focus on the mass market, social stuff and slick appearance is
precisely the wrong path to be going down for a user interface as novel as
this.

[http://gyrovague.com/2013/01/25/dorky-is-ok-google-glass-
doe...](http://gyrovague.com/2013/01/25/dorky-is-ok-google-glass-does-not-
have-to-be-the-next-iphone/)

------
sp4ke
#ifihadglass i would give you all my ideas for free so you could earn money
with it and make me pay for using it

------
bane
So I have to build up an application so I can get invited to pay $1500 for a
device I don't really know what it does and probably don't want?

(oh and I wear glasses so I probably couldn't use it even if I wanted to)

~~~
raldi
You don't have to do anything.

------
Kartificial
Cool initiative. Too bad I wear glasses already and don't live in the US.

~~~
bazzargh
Someone was spotted last month wearing a Glass with prescription lenses (I'd
looked it up 'cos I'd need that too)

[http://www.roadtovr.com/2012/12/30/google-glass-spotted-
in-t...](http://www.roadtovr.com/2012/12/30/google-glass-spotted-in-the-wild-
in-nyc-2078)

~~~
MojoJolo
Wow. Thanks! I wear glasses to and it's also my concern. But my problem now,
my lens are too thick (my grade is high) to be held up by a half frame. I
always need a full framed glass. And I think, that one in the picture is just
half framed.

------
lucb1e
Why must I live in the US to apply for each and every hardware beta...

~~~
forgotAgain
Not trying to justify it but just saying it could be privacy laws in other
countries.

~~~
lucb1e
I know, lots of extra issues besides the one they already have when they
distribute the technology in the US. It still sucks to be excluded.

------
ponyous
Was so excited until I read "and live in the U.S. to apply"

------
Cieplak
Please take off your glasses before entering the restroom.

------
o0-0o
Would anyone here strap a cell phone to their temples? In voice of Arnold...
Its not a tumor. Its a Google glass side effect.

~~~
sjtrny
I would. Mobile phones emit and receive non ionising radiation. They are
perfectly safe. Are you worried about the constant radio waves hitting your
skull 24/7 from radio, tv, wifi etc?

And who is to say this isn't piggy backing off your phone in your pocket?

------
Yuioup
I wonder why Google felt the need to put this out just before the Playstation
4 announcement today.

~~~
mtgx
I don't think they care about that. Not like the products overlap much.

------
friendly_chap
When I saw the icon I hoped it is a synthesizer because of the sawtooth wave.
Too bad.

------
3pt14159
Seeking Google to at least include Canada :(

------
te_chris
The POV porn industry is going to love this.

