'Wearable Computing Will Be the Norm,' Says Google Glass Team 196
An anonymous reader writes "In an interview with Wired, Google's Steve Lee and Babak Parviz spoke about how they've come to use Project Glass in their lives, and where they expect the mobile computing industry to go in the near future. 'We've long thought the camera's important, but since we've started using this in public and with our family and friends and in real situations, not just hidden in the Google lab, we've truly seen the power of being hands-free. ... It's my expectation that in three to five years it will actually look unusual and awkward when we view someone holding an object in their hand and looking down at it. Wearable computing will become the norm.'"
Nokia was first with this idea (Score:4, Interesting)
I once saw this concept video [youtube.com]video at Nokia Research Centre in Helsinki more than 3 years ago. Too bad Nokia failed to capitalise it on time and now they are failing big time.
Re:Nokia was first with this idea (Score:2, Interesting)
In commercials they always show these happy people who have nice houses, often on a beach, they have nice loans and other property, they have time to do nothing but laugh for some reason, their teeth are perfectly white and their clothing looks fresh and it's sunny.
Here is what they don't show [wikipedia.org].
Seriously though, all these ear buds and other types of earphones that go inside the ear - I can't use them. None of them, they fall out, I would like to be able to use them, but I think my ears are too small or something like like that, so to use one, I'd have to tape it to me. But then there is another problem, long ago I lived in very cold climate, I had a situation when I was stuck in the cold for too long, had some frostbite and since then my left ear had this problem - when I use the phone on the left side for more than a few minutes or have earphones on, it starts hurting and the pain is very strong and lasts for a while before it subsides. Whenever I see a commercial that shows people wearing earphones for too long (like blue tooth devices) I start having this phantom pains in my ear, it hurts even to look at that commercial :) So they are showing this nice looking chick, I am enjoying the view and all of a sudden they are showing the earpiece, crap.
Agree and Disagree (Score:5, Interesting)
It's my expectation that in three to five years...
I agree with their view and disagree with it. I agree that wearable computers are the future but I disagree with their timeline - I believe "three to five years" is an enormously, overly aggressive timeframe.
First of all, project Glass is coming to market next year at a price of $1400 (iirc) and is only available for developers (currently - which I would imagine means the price is as low as possible to help get developers involved rather than to generate profits). This is already one year of their three-to-five timeframe eaten up. While I realize that price will come down as the tech gets better and once it's made available to the general public economies of scale will also help drive the price down, I believe there's still far too big a difference between "price the tech has to be sold at to make it a viable business" and "price most consumers are willing to pay". So, first of all, I believe the price is a significant barrier and it will take longer than three to five years to get the price into a realm where the average consumer feels comfortable paying for the tech.
Second, and more importantly, people have zero experience with the interface. Smartphones were set to explode because people a) understood phones and b) understood computers so the marriage of the two as a technology as easy to understand and required minimal learning to use. It was easy for the mass market to pick up and go. For something like project Glass, I cannot see the average person easily figuring out how to use it. Now, understand, this is absolutely independent of how easy it actually is to use - it might be the easiest, most intuitive thing in the world to use but people won't feel that it's easy to use because they've never used anything like it which will serve as a barrier to adoption. People intuitively knew how to use a phone and knew how to use a computer so selling them a phone that was a computer was easy. Selling them a set of glasses that is also a computer will not be an easy sell. Thus, there needs to be a significant amount of effort spent making that usage scenario _feel_ easy and intuitive to the average consumer before they will actually pick up the device and that will only happen over time. It will happen, eventually, but it will take time.
All in all, I agree that wearable computer devices will become the norm but I think that "three to five years" is an enormously optimistic timeframe. There will be early adopters and the like but it will take at least a decade, probably a bit longer, before it solidly penetrates the mass market and becomes "normal".
Re:already the norm (Score:2, Interesting)
All these 'smartphones' are computers and they are worn on people.
Uh, no. Nobody 'wears' a smartphone. They carry a smartphone, sure, but that's an entirely different word and meaning.
Watches are possible, but I haven't seen a single person wearing a watch in the past five years. I doubt pip boys are going to come into fashion, given that there's nothing that can be done on a watch-sized system that can't be done better on a smartphone.
Wearable computers simply aren't happening. What, your password is in your other pants? About the only rational possibility for them would be some sort of hilariously terrible glasses-equivalent. While that'd make DBZ geeks happy (WHAT DOES THE SCOUTER SAY?!?!?), such an interface would be a disaster from the usability - not to mention, sanity - standpoint.
Re:News at eleven (Score:3, Interesting)
It could be worse.. [wikipedia.org]
If no one disturbs me, I wake up at the crack of noon +- 5 minutes. I get tired at about 4am, and to sleep at 4:30 to 5am. That's my circadian rhythm.
If I force myself to "normal" work day patterns, I'm screwed. First off, it takes several alarm clocks, and usually someone living with me to scream at me that the alarm has been going off for an hour. Alarm clocks that reset themselves after a few minutes are worthless to me. My phone has a very obnoxious alarm clock on it. I set 4 or more alarms, about 6 minutes apart, so if I hit snooze on one, they'll keep going off at irregular intervals.
Assuming I am awake, I'm not really. It's literally just the motions of it. I can shower, drive, and show up to work. I can't hold an intelligent conversation, and I work very slowly. Pretty much how most people would, if they were woken up at 3am and told to work. I take notes, because I won't remember what anyone tells me. Suddenly at noon, I'm wide awake. I can redesign networks in my head, and trouble shoot complex problems that have other people stumped. I don't take lunch until around 4pm, just because companies usually require it. Even then, it's food at my desk. I usually keep going until 8pm to 9pm, getting my assigned work done, plus some. 4 hours in zombie mode, and then 9 good work hours, where I do real work.
When I get home, I have to take sleeping pills to get to sleep. Without them, I won't get sleepy again til 4am. I have to change pills every couple weeks, because I build up a tolerance quickly. My bedside table ends up looking like an OTC pharmacy.
On this work schedule, add large amounts of ibuprofen and antacids. Waking up early leaves me with migraines all day, even after I pass the noon point where I'm actually awake. All the ibuprofen necessitates the antacids.
The only practical way for me to be on a 8am flight is to stay up all night. On my schedule, it's not so bad (read the link above). I'm tired, but not sleepy on the 5am drive to the airport. I breeze through ticketing and security, and fall asleep at the terminal. My 100 or so new temporary closest friends make plenty of noise when it's time to get on the plane. So to my seat, and I finish my nap for the duration of the flight. When noon hits, I'm ready to conquer the world, which hopefully coincides with me getting to my destination.
I'd trade sleep patterns with anyone else. It'd make my life so much easier.
I have had employers who live with it. They recognize I won't be heard from until noon, and everyone knows not to try unless a building is on fire. They learn to appreciate it the fact that I am around to make production changes all night, when customer usage is minimal, and babysit the whole network until the morning shift is alive. They also appreciate the fact that my work day is 16 hours long, and I only occasionally take an hour break to go grocery shopping and the like. :)
I'm writing this at 11am. I tried to move over to a normal day, by sleeping through the day yesterday, waking up at 6pm, going to sleep at 3am, and then I was wide awake at 6am. The migraine is in full swing right now, and I'll actually be awake in another hour.