Project Glass

Sun, 6 May 2012

Google recently revealed its plan to develop Internet-connected eyeglasses that would combine normal vision with informational overlays. It has named the effort "Project Glass" and built a prototype.

The eyeglasses can also tell you where other individuals are located although Google has not revealed the specific technology it uses to monitor the locations of Project Glass users. The glasses appear to have a built-in microphone that is always activated, and a button that people can push to take photographs.

My thoughts:

Will the software that runs this be free? Will people be able to get a copy of the software, modify it, and then use that instead of the software that comes from Google?
Will Google be able to see what you see?
How does it know where you are? Since your location is being transmitted if you use this (and potentially the sights and sounds around you), will Google now know who you meet with, where you meet them, what you eat, and how many times you use the restroom?
It seems that this could provide Google with far more information about people than they already collect by scanning your messages in Gmail, tracking the YouTube videos you watch, and logging what you search for on the internet.
If everyone starts to wear these while walking around, immersed in their own assisted reality, the future could be a very lonely place.