Google Project Glass takes craziness to new heights, how will AR affect us?

February 9, 2013 | Filed under: Technology News,Your Opinion | Posted by: Anand Meena

Did you hear the latest news about the Google Glass? As per documents filed with the FCC i.e. the Federal Communication Commission, Google Glass will be using bone-vibrating technology to produce sound. (You can read the complete document available online here). Essentially that means instead of a traditional speaker-headphone setup, the Glass will simply vibrate bones near your ears that will relay the audio data. Thus, external environmental sounds will not be cutoff and extra attachments will not be needed.

Cool or creepy?

The way it has been projected, the advantages shown include the Glasses (kindly do not confuse Google Glasses with Google Goggles) giving directions to the user while he is driving without forcing him to block out traffic sounds which might have led to accidents. The Explorer Edition of Project Glass will start shipping in 2014 with a price tag of $1,500 (£962).

What consequences comes to the layman’s mind when a technology of this proportion is presented? Well, let us help you enlist some.

Every person becomes an open book

Say you are wearing the Google Glasses and you look at your colleague sitting next to you. Immediately, all the information available about this person online will be displayed on your glasses, which might look something like this

Name : ABC
Work : Senior Manager at XYZ
Hobbies : Singing, Dancing, Swimming and hanging out at late night bars
Relationship : Recently Divorced
Recently spotted at : Spot 1, Spot 2, Spot 3
Children : Tom, Harry

and so on…

Would you really like all this to be shown?

Call us old fashioned or whatever, but it does sound a little creepy. Although for people with all the good intentions, it is perfectly nice and sunny, but what about those with nefarious intentions. You wouldn’t like it if someone you hardly knew came up and said “Hello lady! I met you at the golf course the other day and you looked gorgeous in the outfit! I see you are free on Saturdays, would you like to go for a coffee?“. Get the point?

The technology becomes an extension of your entity, and then a part of your existence

Augmented reality technology is a huge world in itself. It looks cool and wowing in the Hollywood movies, but the thought of having something like that with your 24×7 is debatable. When we were kids, we were told not to watch TV past bedtime, how would you feel doing that with a computer screen nicely seated up your nose and staring into your eyes?

Of course, one can debate that one can always opt to impose control on oneself and make sure the technology does not start ruling your life, but who are you fooling? First we blamed the idiot box of interrupting the peaceful life, then the mobile phone, and now smartphones. The very presence of such a technology is bound to give a new shape to your life.

The discussion might seem to be paranoiac but with every step we take in technology, its social impact has to be carefully weighed. Would like to know your views on the point.

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Image Courtesy toppoptechnology.blogspot.com