Com recordareu, el 2012 Google va presentar un nou projecte destinat a trencar els esquemes de l’òptica, la navegació, la localització… en general, la vida actual. Les Googgle Glass eren unes ulleres de realitat augmentada que comptaven amb el suport de grans empreses del sector com Luxottica o Diane von Furtstenburg.
El projecte d’aquest nou dispositiu es va dur a terme i fins i tot, es va arribar a comercialitzar entre un petit número d’usuaris. Tot i així, els resultats obtinguts no complien amb les expectatives creades i encara que el projecte es realitzés correctament, no es van valorar positivament i, com vàrem explicar a notícies anteriors, van ser rebutjades. Es va parlar de problemes tècnics, però sobretot va primar la sensació de manca d’intimitat que dóna la gent que porta unes Google Glass. Els interlocutors se senten vigilats i la seva pròpia imatge a l’ull de l’altre resulta incòmoda.
Tot i aquest fracàs, Tony Fadell, fundador i director executiu de Nest, adquirit per Google fa un any i elegit com a director de l’equip de vidre de les ulleres esmentades, ha anunciat segons New York Times, que no es rendirà i que té grans plans per redissenyar les ulleres.
Així doncs, sembla ser que les Google Glass no acabaran en l’oblit i tornaran al mercat. Actualment però, no es té informació dels canvis i dels plans que es tenen preparats per aquest dispositiu. Fadell anuncia que el seu desenvolupament es durà a terme de manera privada i no es revelarà cap detall fins que no estigui del tot acabat.
Google no es rendeix. Aviat tindrem el segon episodi de les Google Glass.
Whatever happened to all those people wearing Google Glass all over town? Many were all-in on the greatness of the product, wearing Google Glass to video podcasts, TV shows, and events.
Wearers were gung ho and constantly extolled the virtues of Google Glass. I wrote at the time that the entire product was a hoax. Although ridiculed for the column, one year later, in April 2014, articles began to appear about how all the early adopters stopped wearing the glasses because they were useless and led to personal ridicule. But there was more to it than that.
The sudden disappearance of Google Glass reminds me of a couple of other odd fads that came and went. The first was the overwhelming popularity of VCRPlus, a mechanism that allowed you to punch in a simple number into a video cassette recorder (VCR) for it to record a desired show. On the TV listings these numbers appeared almost by magic overnight in much the same way almost the way vinyl records disappeared from “record stores.”
Whatever happened to all those people wearing Google Glass all over town? Many were all-in on the greatness of the product, wearing Google Glass to video podcasts, TV shows, and events.Wearers were gung ho and constantly extolled the virtues of Google Glass. I wrote at the time that the entire product was a hoax. Although ridiculed for the column, one year later, in April 2014, articles began to appear about how all the early adopters stopped wearing the glasses because they were useless and led to personal ridicule. But there was more to it than that.The sudden disappearance of Google Glass reminds me of a couple of other odd fads that came and went. The first was the overwhelming popularity of VCRPlus, a mechanism that allowed you to punch in a simple number into a video cassette recorder (VCR) for it to record a desired show. On the TV listings these numbers appeared almost by magic overnight in much the same way almost the way vinyl records disappeared from “record stores.”
This disappearing act also occurred with the once ubiquitous “keyword” employed by AOL. Everywhere you looked you’d see someone on TV, for example, saying “Keyword: NBC News.” or some such thing. This again suddenly went missing—but wasn’t missed enough for anyone to complain.
I was initially of the opinion that Google Glass suddenly vanished for many of the same reasons: a change in the landscape resulting in disinterest. But there was no real change. This disappearance was a little different. It wasn’t outliving its usefulness like VCRPlus and keywords; it was negative social pressure that made them go.
In some ways this is a shame since a number of Google Glass applications still being developed could be useful for customer service and other business applications. Now they’ll probably never see the light. Personally I’ll be surprised if Google does not pull the plug on the product within the next 12 months.
The social pressure came directly from the public. People found these devices insulting and rude. In some ways they reflect the naiveté of Google itself. The company has exhibited a very cavalier attitude towards individual privacy.
The users who didn’t realize that it was rude to wear these info-glasses must have found out soon enough when they’d hear complaints from people on the street, or worse, the ultra-expense Glass was grabbed off their face. I simply wouldn’t talk to anyone wearing Google Glass until they took them off. There was nothing confidential or personal that could be discussed with anyone wearing the device. You’d be foolish not to assume the conversation was being recorded. You may as well pull out an HD video camera and start recording when you were chatting. It was an imposition.
I’ve wondered if there would ever be a time where Google Glass and other “smart glasses” are going to be generally acceptable to the public-at-large. With security cameras everywhere combined with unapologetic government surveillance of law-abiding citizens, adding Glass is just too much. They turned out to be a straw the broke the back of the privacy camel’s back. With news of people wearing Glass being assaulted the product was doomed.
No one needs friends acting as if they were agents of the government, perhaps streaming your image and words directly to the cloud during what should be casual conversation.
Can Glass ever be revived? Is there anything that could popularize them? Perhaps if some famous popular icons began to wear them, they might become cool. But most celebrities have already concluded that the glasses are dorky. Google will never understand the mechanisms needed to make them desirable.
It is time to just kiss this little product goodbye, for good.
Un asistente a una de las conferencias del Mobile World Congress en Barcelona en febrero pasado Bloomberg/ Á. Navarrete
Recompensa (reward): 500 dólares. Para ganar ese dinero (396 euros) sólo hay que denunciar a alguien que esté en el cine grabando una película. Es una de las medidas contra la piratería que las grandes distribuidoras cinematográficas (majors) tienen vigentes en las salas de Estados Unidos. A la prohibición de teléfonos y todo tipo de cámaras se acaban de añadir las gafas y otros tipos de dispositivos para llevar encima que puedan filmar, con lo que se incluyen incluso algunos relojes. La asociación en la que se agrupan las grandes distribuidoras (MPAA) acordó el miércoles con la agrupación de salas de cine (NATO), modificar su ya exhaustiva reglamentación contra la piratería para incluir una nueva categoría en la que, sin decirlo, piensan en un dispositivo en concreto: las Google Glass.
La nueva reglamentación por la que se regirán las salas de cine establece que “todos los teléfonos deben estar silenciados y los otros dispositivos de grabación, incluida la tecnología vestible (wearable), deben ser apagados y guardados durante la proyección”. Entre las actuaciones para evitar que se usen, se incluye la posibilidad de examinar bolsos y chaquetas.
Quienes sean cazados mientras infringen la normativa serán obligados a abandonar la sala. Pero además los propietarios de las salas de cine tienen la instrucción de avisar a las autoridades si detectan que se está grabando una película durante una proyección. El infractor se puede enfrentar a una pena de hasta tres años de prisión según la ley federal, pero además 41 estados tienen leyes específicas contra la grabación en las salas.
Las Google Glass se pueden comprar ya por un precio de 1.500 dólares (unos 1.190 euros), pero su comercialización definitiva no ha sido puesta en marcha por Google.
Las gafas son capaces de añadir imagen sobre la visión de una persona al proyectar en la retina del ojo derecho una pantalla. Las Google Glass pueden tomar fotografías y vídeos simplemente con una orden verbal.
La nueva regulación de las salas de cine americanas se refieren a los wearables de una forma genérica porque al posible lanzamiento de las gafas de Google podrían salirle otros. Samsung ya ha anunciado que prepara unas gafas del mismo tipo.
El primer lugar del mundo en el que fueron prohibidas las Google Glass fue el bar 5 Point Café de la ciudad de Seattle, poco después de ser presentadas, en marzo del 2013. El establecimiento alegó que no quería que sus clientes se preocuparan por la privacidad. A esta prohibición le siguieron las de los casinos de Las Vegas, que quieren evitar a los jugadores que tratan de obtener ventaja con la observación minuciosa de las jugadas. Entre los lugares prohibidos figura incluso un local de striptease.
Filmmaker Casey Neistat is not a tech journalist, and it shows in his entertaining video review of Google Glass, shot entirely on the headpiece.
Free of the the tech jargon usually seen in more comprehensive reviews, Neistat simply dons Glass throughout a trip to Europe. When Neistat wants to address his audience, he holds up a handheld mirror to Glass, and records his observations.
Among his non-comprehensive findings: the battery life needs work, the camera is incredibly simple to use and the entire headpiece will draw comments from everyone, from Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers inspecting Neistat’s luggage.
