Items tagged with Google-Glass
Quest Visual, a company that makes the impressive Word Lens app that translates words on signs that you capture with your device’s camera, is now owned by Google. In a statement on its website, Quest Visual said that it’s jump to Google will allow it to “incorporate Quest Visual's technology into Google Translate's broad language coverage and translation capabilities in the future.” That’s good news for any Google user with a smartphone, to be sure, but it’s more exciting when you consider that Word Lens is an app for Google Glass, too. Cool, huh? A HUD platform like Glass is a perfect application for a tool like Word Lens. You can look at a sign in (currently)...
Read more...
Armed with Facebook’s deep pockets and strong backstop, Oculus VR is much better able to poach talent from big companies than when it was just an exciting startup (John Carmack notwithstanding). The big get for this week is Adrian Wong, who left his post as a lead electrical engineer at Google[x], where he worked on Google Glass, to join the Oculus team. Credit: Brandon Chan via TechCrunch As reported by TechCrunch, Wong announced on Facebook (oh, I get it now) that May 2nd was his last day at Google, and now his LinkedIn profile confirms that he’s moved over to Oculus. Wong worked on the systems, camera, and RF for Glass, and on the Explorer Edition of the specs he was in charge...
Read more...
Is Google trying to gussy up the image of Glass, which for some odd reason many people find upsetting, with a touching video? Yes? Is Google exploiting Mother’s Day to do so? Yes. Do we care? No, and that’s partially because director Aneesh Chaganty shot the whole thing with Google Glass, and the result is an engaging bit of film called “Seeds”. In a short video posted on the official Google Glass YouTube account, we see a young man pack his bags, say goodbye to a lovely young lady, and head off halfway across the world to visit his mother via a variety of planes, trains, and automobiles. (Also, at least one boat.) Clearly, it was a surprise visit, and his mom is predictably...
Read more...
Google Glass costs $1,500 for the time being, but a teardown of the spectacles reveals that the total cost of the materials inside totals $79.78. That’s what you’d call a significant markup. TechInsight’s Teardown.com did the dirty work, and they found that the most expensive part was the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 processor ($13.96). Glass also has 16GB of Toshiba EGW1 64G NAND memory ($4.68), 512MB of SK Hynix mobile DDR2 SDRAM ($8.18), a 5MP camera ($5.66), and a 570mAh battery ($1.14). Source: TechInsights The full list is quite interesting, but as the teardown is brief and the prices approximated (a more in-depth teardown is forthcoming), there are some questions the list...
Read more...
Let’s be frank: Although wearables are most definitely a hot, up-and-coming market, not everyone is convinced that very many (or any) wearable computing devices are worthwhile. Smartwatches often seem like a very intriguing concept, but no one has yet figured out how to make one that people have to have. Fitness bands are handy tools but are often limited. Google Glass and its ilk have run into a bizarre zeitgeist buzzsaw. And so on. Thus, the market is wide open for innovation, and a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have what they believe is a design solution for smartwatch interfaces: They’ve made the interface mechanical to complement touchscreen capabilities....
Read more...
We love a good mod around here, and this one is priceless: Using a Rasperry Pi, a pair of hacked-up video glasses, a tiny wireless keyboard, and some 3D-printed parts, you can create your own Google Glass-like spectacles that will mount on virtually any sunglasses or prescription frames. Basically, you can pull apart the video glasses and extract some key components and then fit them into some 3D-printed pieces, the designs for which are free from Thingiverse. Poof, there are your high-tech specs. To power them--and this is the ungraceful part--you need to put together a pocket-sized Raspberry Pi system and, well, put it in your pocket. Then you connect the Rasperry Pi to the spectacles with...
Read more...
Suddenly, Google Glass updates are coming hard and fast, and Google says that’s largely due to the Android KitKat update. The most recent updates include the ability to view SMS text messages via iOS devices on Glass and a new Calendar Glassware that offers increased functionality, but that’s just the beginning. The KitKat update gives the specs better battery life and promises better reliability. Glass now has Photo Bundles which show your photos and videos from a given day clustered together for convenience, and you can now share photos in a Hangout. Google has reorganized the list of voice commands, which it notes has gotten a bit long. Now, voice commands will be sorted “by...
Read more...
We live at a quizzical time in technology. The tech boom has revolutionized the world, and the innovations that are pouring out of brilliant minds are incredible in both their frequency and content. But there is also a backlash against a lot of technology, perhaps highlighted best by the curious rage that Google Glass seems to engender in a startling number of people. To gauge attitudes about technology’s future, the Pew Research Center did what it does and conducted a survey. Primarily, the study looks at our collective level of excitement or fear over current and future technologies. “Overall, most Americans anticipate that the technological developments of the coming half-century...
Read more...
If you’ve been dying to find a way in to the Google Glass Explorer program, April 15th is your lucky day. Google is opening up the Explorer program to all comers for that one day, provided you are a U.S. resident (with a shipping address) and are 18 years of age or older. Spots are limited, although Google has not stated to what extent, but you can pick your preferred shade or frame. The “sale” opens up at 6am PDT on April 15th and will run just for the day; whether that means it will close at midnight or at 6am PDT the following day is unclear, so you should get in there early just to be safe. This could be you This marks an important point in the proliferation of Google Glass,...
Read more...
Count the United States Air Force as fans of Google Glass. The USAF has been testing the high-tech specs for use in a variety of scenarios, including helping fighter jets and bombers locate their targets, search and rescue missions, and ground-to-air communications out on the battlefield. The BATMAN group within the USAF’s 711th Human Performance Wing, based at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio is tasked with research and development with two pairs of Google Glass, according to VentureBeat. As part of its work, the group is also developing Android software that would deliver solutions for its specific use cases. Credit: VentureBeat Some of the best features of this particular...
Read more...
Livestream is an application that lets you stream a video broadcast, and you can now use the app right from Google Glass specs perched on your face, a development that both heightens privacy concerns and also promises a new wave of POV journalism and entertainment. As a means to broadcast events, Livestream is a great tool, and downloaded and installed on Google Glass, it gains another powerful layer of usability. Glass users can just download and install the Livestream app and launch it by saying, “Ok Glass, Livestream” and tapping the side of Glass. For journalists, fans, and advertisers, this is an exciting development. A reporter could, for example, produce intense POV footage...
Read more...
Ok, Google: We see what you’re going for by trying to trademark the word “Glass” and its stylish font. “Google Glass” is a mouthful and is actually a bit of a tongue-twister, like “law blog” or “rural juror”, so using that name as a trademark isn’t ideal. “Glass” just sounds better. The problem is that the U.S. Patent And Trademark Office is holding things up. A trademark examiner had some issues with Google’s attempt to secure the term “Glass”, including potential confusion with existing trademarked terms in the computing market (“Write on glass”, “Glass3d”, and “Teleglass”...
Read more...
Alright Google Glass haters, I’m actually kind of with you on this one. A new app for Google Glass (aka “glassware”) is designed to read people’s emotions and respond accordingly, and if there’s anything people dislike more than being stared at by a Google Glass wearer, it’s wondering if that person (most likely in this case a customer service rep) is using your facial expression to calculate your feelings on a product, store, or experience. Here’s a wild prediction: Most of the expressions being read will not be happy ones. (Also, there’s a less expensive way to gauge people’s emotions that’s been around for a long time, and it’s...
Read more...
Sometimes there are news items that just make you want to lay on the ground all day, like the guy in the radiohead video for “Just”. The story of a woman who was assaulted in a San Francisco bar for wearing Google Glass is one of those items. What happened is this: Sarah Slocum was in the Molotov Bar on Haight St. in San Francisco showing her Google Glass specs to friends when other patrons not in her party became incensed that she had the tech specs on in the bar and objected to the possibility that she was filming them. A confrontation ensued in which one of Slocum’s party threw a punch at the aggressors. A man ripped Google Glass off of Sarah’s face and ran out of the...
Read more...
The NYPD is reportedly testing Google Glass for use with its patrol officers. “We signed up, got a few pairs of the Google glasses, and we’re trying them out, seeing if they have any value in investigations, mostly for patrol purposes,” a “ranking New York City law enforcement official” told VentureBeat. That sounds tame enough until you cross-reference that tidbit with the fact that facial recognition software (NameTag) exists for the high-tech specs. Ostensibly, then, police officers could identify you--whether or not you’re a criminal or engaging in suspicious activity--without you knowing it. Privacy mavens will no doubt hit the roof, but while it’s...
Read more...
Glass is for games, too. Google has “hacked together” (their words, not ours) five mini games in an effort to inspire developers to build games for Google Glass using Glassware. “With tons of tiny sensors and a screen that fits neatly above the eye, Glass is an exciting new place to play,” reads a Google blog post. The five games include voice activation and use of the gyroscope, accelerometer, motion sensing, and Newtonian physics. There’s a tennis game, a clay shooter, a balance game, a matching game, and a shape splitter. Although we can’t say we’re terribly excited to see otherwise normal people running around in public shouting “Pull!”...
Read more...
Did you ever think you’d be buying your prescription glasses from Google? We’re on record carping about the inability to wear Google Glass when you have existing spectacles on, but Google is addressing that issue in impressive fashion by rolling out its own spate of frames for prescription lenses. There are several lightweight frames to choose from in the Titanium collection, including Bold, Split, Curve, and thin. All four are fashionable, and they look great (on all those impossibly attractive models, at least), so that slightly silly tech nerd look the original Google glass foists upon the wearer is diminished significantly. There are also three twist-on sunglasses frames (Edge,...
Read more...
When NFL Films first got the idea to mic up certain players and coaches to give viewers a more intimate look and listen into games, practices, and sidelines, it changed a great deal about the average fan’s understanding of and interest in the game. The NBA is about to enjoy a generationally commensurate innovation for fans by outfitting certain players, announcers, and others with Google Glass to augment a broadcast. On the January 24th game between the Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers, the Kings will use Google Glass and CrowdOptic’s technology to significantly boost the fan experience with streams from select individuals sporting the high-tech specs. It’s a brilliant...
Read more...
Google’s XE12 update to Google Glass is out, and there are some nifty new features to make Glass Explorers happy. One of the most notable is a new feature that lets users wink to snap a photo. It would appear that Google liked what it saw from Winky and either swiped the idea from developer Mike Giovanni or implemented his technology. “Wink”, as Google is calling it, is designed to make taking a picture supremely easy, with the idea being that you can turn on feature in Settings and snap pictures without taking yourself out of the moment. (It also makes it easier for Glass users to surreptitiously take photos of others.) But Google has bigger plans for the Wink feature: “Imagine...
Read more...
A second version of Google Glass is on its way, and the stalwart (and lucky) Glass Explorers will all get to try it out. The new spectacles will still be Explorer Edition--in other words, still beta versions of Google Glass--but it’s still exciting that version 2 is coming. The updated Glass will won’t be dramatically different from the current iteration, but there are some significant changes. For one thing, v2 will be a little faster and also more durable, which will certainly both enhance the user experience and give users a bit more peace of mind when using Glass. The new version will also be compatible with those prescription lenses we heard about (and heartily advocate), which,...
Read more...
I recall an anecdote about a fellow that got his house wired with electricity way back when. Workers installed wiring and sockets, but the man didn’t have any light bulbs yet, so he screwed a potato onto the light socket to prevent the electricity from leaking out all over the place. That’s the image I have any time someone just doesn’t understand a given technology. (In fairness, sometimes I’m the potato guy.) Thus, that’s also the image that came to mind when word broke that another Seattle establishment banned Google Glass. This one is the Lost Lake Cafe & Lounge, which apparently is owned by the same guy (Dave Meinert) that owns the 5 Point that banned the...
Read more...
ASUS has big plans for the coming year. At this year’s CES in January, ASUS is going to make a splash with new smartphones, and handsets are going to become a major focus for the company. “We remain optimistic about the desktop and laptop market, but our priority is to make the company’s smartphone business turn a profit next year,” said ASUS CFO David Chang to investors at a conference. ASUS expects to grow its smartphone sales by a factor of five, from one million units this year to five million in 2014, and it expects the growth to come in part from more retail stores in China and better partnerships with carriers worldwide. ASUS Padfone ASUS is also expected to launch...
Read more...
