Friday, April 20, 2012

1721 Goggle Boggle

I'm interested in the recent upcoming innovation touted by Google. They call it Project Glass. The glasses of the future. The idea is to have a wearable heads-up display so you can access important information, like maps and GPS and other Android apps, without having to flip out a smartphone or an iPad. It will also have voice technology so you can make hands-free requests.
They used to have technology like this. For finding your way and understanding new stuff. They called it a brain. Now you should be able to pilot without one for the most part. Thanks to Project Glass.
And bonus---now it will be a lot easier to text and drive.
I'm sure greater wags than eye have bemoaned the missed branding opportunity though. Project Glass? Why not Google Goggles? That name could also help describe the obliviousness we see in those that text and drive or text and walk.
"Don't mind him, he's got Google Goggles."
Or, "He's Google Goggle-boggled."
So when you get caught staring vacantly at a member of the opposite sex, while actually concentrating on your heads-up display, will they say, "Are you making googley eyes at me?"
It's bound to be a disaster. People have proven they can't multitask. If they're bad drivers now because they can't even talk on a cellphone and drive at the same time what's it going to be like if they're also cluttering up their field of vision?
Jet fighter pilots do simulated flights and engage in intensive training to get used to heads-up displays. You think you're going to get that training with your average mangled English startup CD or truncated App description?
These may be glasses of the future, but if we use them, we may not make it to the future.
America ya gotta love it.

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