Ged Carroll

Google Glass device

Published: (Updated: ) in consumer behaviour | 消費者行為 | 소비자 행동, design | 設計 | 예술과 디자인 | デザイン, ideas | 想法 | 생각 | 考える, web of no web | 無處不在的技術 | 보급 기술 | 普及したテクノロジー by .

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I’ve blogged a few times before about the merits and flaws in the current iterations of  the Google Glass device. I consider the Google Glass device to be an interesting idea; because of the potential contextual nature of its content provision; but the product is flawed and ultimately a failure in the consumer space due to its product design and current limitations of technology. The Atlantic carried a very interesting piece that hyphothesised that Google Glass was failing because it was an assistive technology and assistive technologies make use feel week. However, if that was the case Glass should be fine with just a rebranding exercise, rather like glasses moved from being a weakness to a hipster accessory.

Whilst I agree with the hypothesis that Google Glass can assist people, I don’t think that ‘disability aids’ are the correct analogy for Google Glass; instead Google Glass augments the majority of current users in theory; it is a telephone rather than a hearing aid. It is about making the user even better; think of it as having the personal assistant who whispers in your ear at a party the names of the people that you should know and where you met them previously, a personal concierge service like a shopper or a tour guide.

Failings in Google Glass

Glass Rage
Google Glass rage incidents happen for a number of reasons:

There are some use cases for glass that make sense
Glass would be much more useful, (at least until the technology is able to address some of the shortcomings listed above) in an industrial environment; for instance working in a tight space servicing a jet engine or augmenting a warehouse picking team’s work. All of this is dependent on the device being sufficiently robust to deal with a dusty, solvent-laden environment safely. It is probably no coincidence that Google is now trying to pivot towards the enterprise, but I could counsel against using Glass at the moment in customer-facing / front-of-house roles.

More information
People Don’t Like Google Glass Because It Makes Them Seem Weak – The Atlantic
The Oculus Rift | Facebook post
Epson Moverio BT-200 see-through smart glasses
Sony Shows Smarteyeglass Prototype to Developers – CIO.com
I like: Sony’s Smarteyglasses
The Google Glass post