Although major technology companies are currently developing smart glasses with computing performance, they have no plans to seize the market opportunity. The example of Google Glass has impressed them so far, and it has become a worldwide laughing stock for people who wear smart glasses in public as “Glassholes”.
So these tech companies are waiting for the right time to put more effort into polishing their prototypes and making sure investors know that they won’t miss the chance to become the next “iPhone” after missing out on the iPhone.
But now, Google’s development has made substantial progress. Whether you’re worried about the big tech company’s “eye of insight” reappearing on people’s heads or looking forward to a camera computing device with automatic sensing, all you know is that smart glasses are coming back into our daily lives.
Last Tuesday, Google revealed that it has begun public testing of camera-equipped augmented reality (AR) glasses, and provided several statements in an official blog post to ensure that there will be no more “Glasshole” situations.
Google said it has invited “dozens” of testers to test, and that the camera and microphone in the smart glasses do not support taking photos and recording video. The camera is only used to collect visual data, and in the future scenario Google envisions, the camera can “translate the menu in front of you,” but does not record the people passing by you.
The company’s support page also mentions questions such as “What will the image data collected be used for?” , “How long is the data stored for?” and so on. Google says it will light up LEDs when images are stored for analysis, and promises to delete them within 30 days.
At this stage, Google said testers are not allowed to use in schools, hospitals, churches, playgrounds and such public places, but there is no explicit restriction on the use of restaurants, bars and other places. And in the early days of Glass on the line, which is opposed to a few places strongly.
