<div>Ok, glass” is what a big chunk of humankind could be saying over and over again all through the day when Google’s project Google Glass goes commercial one day. That time isn’t anytime soon; certainly not for over a year. And when it does go into the wild, Google Glass may not reach India in a hurry, so don’t hold your breath. Not only does Google have to tread carefully as this new wearable piece of hi-tech is developed and tested, I’m guessing it will have to surmount a host of inevitable regulatory problems before every country is comfortable with its use. <br /> </div><div>The light, connected spectacles, once thought to be no fashion statement, are already beginning to look cool and there are few who aren’t curious to try it out for themselves and see first-hand what it is that’s making those who do have it go wow, awesome, and generally marvel at their own experience with the gadget. The thousand or so Glass wearers are busy posting pictures and videos shot from Glass to share the feeling but one can only really see a wearer-point-of-view image or video and while that’s interesting, it isn’t all Glass can do. One developer, Dan McLoughlin, managed to hook up his Glass to his Android phone and used a screencasting app to show what it looks like on the inside. Above the right eye, you get to see a lot of things that you do on your smartphone today — search results, text messages, Google Now information. You talk to it using voice commands and by touching relevant parts of the side frame. The famous tech guru Robert Scobble is so buoyed up by the experience he claims he will never be without one again and has gone so far as to put up a picture of himself (not a full photo, fortunately) of him having a bath with his Glass on. All of this goes to fuel anticipation for this device, which rather prematurely has been forecast by market information company IHS to be set to ship 10 million by 2016. <br /> </div><div>Google Glass is really just a start, but already others have announced related devices that share similar capabilities, or will do so when they’re fully ready. If anyone can succeed at this sort of technology, it’s probably Google, but it’s clear that an era of wearable technology is creeping up on us. I say creeping because it’s more than a little frightening when you think that everyone could be going around wearing their smartphones in their eyes complete with camera and video. Our privacy is barely surviving social networks and before we’ve even begun to understand the implications, we will have a new can of worms to deal with. When you can take picture with a blink, broadcast it with a word, and capture an event just as it happens, it’s a new reality to which we have to adjust. Small cameras are already around, of course, but the very fact that they will be almost an appendage of ourselves is daunting. Some places in the US have started by prematurely banning Google Glass — without even seeing how it works. The distraction, privacy violations, and potential misuse has them worried already. <br /> </div><div>At the same time, wearable tech like Google Glass will be infinitely interesting and transformatively helpful in many fields such as healthcare, education, work in remote areas, travel and well, just about everything we do. The scary part is just that — the potential to change everything. The presence of the Internet in every aspect of daily life and at all times is said to be rewiring our brains. Can you but wonder what wearable tech will do? Going about the physical world with a second reality in front of you is bound to change us in ways we can’t even imagine. Will we ever seem really there to other people or will it seem like they always have a certain little part of our attention? Will we really be a bunch of constant multitaskers?<br /> </div><div>Apps are being developed to further the capabilities and applications of Google Glass. A Twitter app is said to be already in existence. Imagine the eyewitness tweets and images that could be coming up. As it gets curiouser and curiouser, I know I certainly would say OK to Glass. <br /><br />mala(at)pobox(dot)com<br />Twitter: (at)malabhargava<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 03-06-2013)</span></div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
