The
invention of Google Glass has disrupted the technology field thus changing the
potential of wearable technology. According to Dr. Thornburg (2014a), a
disruptive technology is simply a “new technology with the same functionality
of an existing technology, but it functions more efficiently, and then
obsoletes that technology.” Once Google
Glass evolves and becomes an emerging device, it has the potential of
displacing hand held devices, especially cell phones.
High-tech
wearables, such as Google Glass, can “extend one’s senses, improve memory, aid
the wearer’s social life, translate conversations from sign language or another
foreign language, and even help him or
her stay calm and collected” (Pentland, 1998, pg. 95). Three driving questions
that lead to the development of Google Glass was “how do you want to connect to
other people in your life and how do you want to connect to information? Should
it be by just walking around looking down?” (Bin, 2013).
One
of the many benefits of wearable technology, such as Google Glass, is that it
enables users to “communicate ubiquitously between the physical and digital
world” (Thornburg, 2014a). The augmented reality of Google glass offers a
Non-Immersive interface which allows users to have their heads up while
talking, listening, taking pictures, messaging, and receiving basic graphic
information (Castellet, 2015).
The
Google Glass technology is unlike its handheld mobile device counterpart that
is attention-absorbing, immersive, and distracting from other tasks such as
walking, driving, listening, and talking. “According to government reports,
3,328 deaths and 421,000 injuries per year are caused by distracted driving,
with this now accounting for one in five of all crashes in the US and rising 6
percent per year” (Govers III, 2015).
Users
of mobile phones become so consumed with swiping and scrolling on their screens
that they lose the intimacy of social interactions and often miss the physical
world around them while they are glued, engaged, and slouched downward towards
their phone’s screen. Even after phones are upgraded and the screens are widened, users still display the slouched over, present but detached from the physical world, and completely engaged with the phone look.
Unfortunately, Google Glass has already completely stopped selling their Explorer products as of January 19, 2015 with no estimated date of release for a newer model (Luckerson, 2015). Similar to technology that has been replaced in the past, Google Glass devices will experience the same fate, but will have their software mimicked in other products and devices that are less noticeable.
References:
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). David Thornburg: Disruptive technologies [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Govers III, F. (2015, May 14). Google reveals lessons learned (and accident count) from self-driving car program. Retrieved July 22, 2015, from http://www.gizmag.com/google-reveals-lessons-learned-from-self-driving-car-program/37481/
Luckerson, V. (2015, January 15). Google Will Stop Selling Glass Next Week. Retrieved July 24, 2015, from http://time.com/3669927/google-glass-explorer-program-ends/
Pentland, A. (1998). Wearable intelligence. Scientific American, Inc., 90-95.
TED. (Producer). (2013). Sergey Bin: Why Google Glass? [Video file]. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_why_google_glass/transcript?language=en
Christina,
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the research on Google glasses and Sixth sense technology, I believe that Google and Mistry need to combine forces and merge their technology. I believe this merger would create an awesome true augmented reality technological device.
It is obvious by Google's action - that they still need to work on their glasses. Also by Mistry's non-action that several factors affect the launching of his technology.
When I look at both technologies, I believe they have awesome potential and their impact on society could be revolutionary.The disruption they would cause would be great and they could displace many technologies. I also see significant benefits for the classroom.
So my question is what happened to Google and what happened to Mistry? Am I putting too much hope in their product? Do they truly have the potential to change the technological environment around us or am I fooling myself?
I remember reading somewhere that Google glass branched off into Nest to be its own company? Nest is the same company that created those interactive thermostats that you can control using your phone. Again, I'm not sure if that's true or if my brain is just confused. Hopefully, Glass is creating an updated version that is less bulky and can interact with devices we already have like regular reading glasses. If they could shrink the size of the Glass device, so it'll fit onto regular glasses or be added to necklaces as seen Mr. Mistry, they could really dominate the wearable technology field. I was really bummed when they stopped selling because I was hoping to see an end to the face down, walking zombie generation of mobile phone use, so that we could go back to a normal society of face to face social interaction rather than the face to forehead while trying to converse with someone glued to their phone.
DeleteI don't think yours is a foolish notion at all, Vivia. I believe the hierarchy surrounding our current technological environs will indeed have to change if the successes we strive for are to truly benefit the end-users as equally as they do the producers. I mean, can we not just make more room at the top so more developers can join forces for better product? If the bottom line doesn't become less of a driving force, "top of the line" is going to have less and less meaning.
DeleteChristina,
ReplyDeleteI was exceedingly disappointed when I learned that Google Glass had terminated their product line production of Google Glass--the wearable computer. "Google announced on Thursday that it will stop selling the current version of Google Glass, as much-derided device that was available through a public beta program, and will work on future iterations of the product in secret (Metz, 2014)." However, I am extremely excited about what Google is working towards as an advanced replacement for the technology--Smart Glass. Smart Glass will improve in areas where Google Glass fell short, e.g., normal social interaction, take videos, give turn-by-turn directions, make phone calls, search the Web, and much more (Metz, 2014, para. 5). According to Metz (2014), "Intriguing possibilities remain. A device that could sense what you were doing at a given moment and serve up relevant information in your field of view could be incredibly useful as a memory aid and productivity enhancer (para. 6)." I would love to be a fly on the wall is that research lab.
References
Metz, R. (2014). Google Glass is dead; long live Smart Glasses. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved August 7, 2015 from http://edtechteachingadventures.blogspot.com