Google's electronic eyewear gets 'OK Glass' voice
commands
Hoping to carve out a new type of personal computing,
Google shows off how to use its computerized eyewear to search, navigate, chat,
and take photos.
by Stephen Shankland
February 20, 2013 4:27 AM PST
Those are the two words that Google showed today will
initiate a variety of commands for its Glass computerized eyewear.
In the Google Glass "How it Feels" video,
people speak the words "OK Glass" and then pick from a list of
featured voice commands to send a message, record a video, take a photo, launch
a video-chat hangout, conduct a search, check the weather, or get driving
directions.
The demo is a concrete illustration of how Google is
evolving its technology from a mere search engine to a constant personal
companion that augments your mind.
When Microsoft introduced Windows 95, its Start menu
became the gateway for just about anything you could do with the operating
system. Google -- expecting to advance computing beyond the era of PCs and even
smartphones -- no doubt hopes that "OK Glass" will become as
familiar.
The Glass eyewear perches a screen just above a person's
ordinary field of view; the device itself is equipped with a processor, camera,
head-tracking orientation sensors, and other electronics drawn from the
smartphone industry. Google began selling Glass developer prototypes called
Explorer last year for $1,500 that are due to ship this year.
Google's site shows off Glass' GoPro-like videocamera
abilities, with first-person views of table tennis, swordplay, trapeze
acrobatics, jumping rope, sculpture carving, hot-air ballooning, and more. The
company is trying to demonstrate it as a sort of real-time video Facebook you
can use to share life with others as you experience what's going on around you.
Google's video and "what-it-does" explanation
is very much from a first-person perspective, showing what it's like to wear
the device. It makes for a very personal experience, reproducing what a person
would see and adding an unobtrusive transparent Glass interface in the upper
right.
But that's not the whole story of Glass, of course.
Wearing the devices might be very personal for the user, but wearing Glass
makes you look a bit cyborg. Surely many folks talking to a Glass-wearing
person will be put off by the knowledge that there's a microphone and camera
pointed right at them. Think of how differently people behave when the camera
comes out for a photo op.
In time, people will adjust, as they have to people
talking on phones as they walk down the street -- especially if Glass becomes
mainstream. Google expects Glass will be ready for consumers in 2014.
Google also announced a promotion in which people who
share interesting ideas about what to do with the device get the chance to
become a "Glass Explorer," who can then pre-order a $1,500 prototype.
The application deadline is February 27.
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