Facebook. Twitter. Youtube. Text messaging. Apps. And the smartphones which house these
addicting communication mediums.
Technology’s promise to connect us has given way to us connecting with
technology itself and not real people. Look at people at sporting events,
classes, buses, and even restaurants: the smartphone has become almost like a
person, replacing people’s desire for real social interaction and synergy with the
world.
Google X, the research facility which made a
driverless car, is lifting the curtain on its secretive “Project Glass,”
glasses, which overlay smartphone information on its lens, “freeing” you from
your smartphone. Yesterday, Google X designers posted on Google+,
asking people for their feedback after releasing a video of how the glasses
would work and pictures of how they look. Currently, Google engineers are
testing the glasses in the real world and are still experimenting with different
designs and technology, so a release date and price are anybody’s guess.
Google claims that the glasses will give you data
only when you need it. Also, its minimalistic one lens design aims to be as
distraction free as possible. Furthermore, Siri like voice commands and a transparent
lens make you wonder why having a screen, no matter how pixilated, is
necessary. So, rather than having a separate device to call, friend, Tweet, or
play apps with, you can do so by just looking at things and controlling your
augmented environment with your voice.
It may be a decade or two before augmented reality
glasses (or contact
lenses) are adopted by the masses. The popularity of
smartphones and the simplicity of not having to have a separate device make
this a real possibility. By eliminating the need for screens, Project Glass
blurs the line between technology that is separate from us and technology that
is part of us, a vision seen in movies like Terminator 2 and
Iron Man. Rather than making us less addicted to our
smartphones, we will essentially “become” smartphones, being stimulated by virtual
images rather than real life.
