Google Glass

                From the big, bold nerdy glasses to the sleek frameless ones, from the hipster ray-bans to the eccentric sunglasses from Lady Gaga collection, we have seen them all. All these glasses serve either of two purposes: aid our vision or shield our eyes from the ever-so-powerful sun’s rays. But did anyone ever think, it would be possible to combine some functions of smartphones with glasses? Wait. What? That sounds a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Well, it’s definitely time to laud Google, for coming up with a possibly revolutionizing concept: “The Google Glass”. Tadang!

                So what is this “Google Glass” all about? Well, to start off, a Google Glass, by NO means, is an ordinary spectacle. Though it sure looks like one. It is instead a wearable computer in itself! And the best part, it’s a hands free computer! So you no longer have to worry spoiling your precious smartphone with smears of curry.  

                Talking about what all the Google glass can do, well there is an enormous lot. Trust me. It can remind the person wearing the Glass of any important appointments or events, or probably even social networking notifications. It can prove to be the best travelling companion since it can give turn-by-turn directions, Cool na? There’s more. It can take photos and videos at anytime and allow you to share them on the go, plus, you can have a video chat with whoever you want, too! Being able to do all this with just voice commands is like a cherry on the cake. That too, a delicious cake! However, there is an alternative to the voice commands too. Along the right side of the Glass, is a capacitive touch pad, which could help you to control the Glass similar to the touch pads found in laptops.   

                All these, are still just some of the functions that the Glass can perform. But let’s take a little look at what’s inside the Google Glass.

                As you can see in the diagram, the Google Glass consists of pretty much all the fundamental components of a regular PC. There is a CPU, a battery, a camera, a micro-phone, a speaker and a prism. There is a tiny projector which is present on the inside which connects to the prism, and together they redirect the light onto our retina, thus, enabling us to see the information visually. All these components are embedded in such a way as to make it look as hassle-free and be as user friendly as possible. And we aren’t complaining. Google Glass has a storage capacity of 16 GB and syncs all the data onto Google Drive, just to aid the accessibility. However, to perform all the syncing activities, as well as other activities like checking e-mail, etc., a stable internet connection would be required throughout. So either you can connect to the Internet by first connecting to another Internet-enabled device like a smartphone over Bluetooth, or simply use Wi-Fi.

               

Ok. So Google Glass does seem promising, doesn’t it? Omg, I just can’t wait to have it. Not really though. “With great power, comes great responsibility”. Let me twist this quote a bit. “With great functionality, comes a great price”. Yeah. The Google Glass is available for a whooping price of $1,500. Only.  Good things never come easy in life, they say. Anyway, apart from the cost and some tit-bits of criticisms such as ‘The Google Glass may breach privacy’ or ‘It can cause a major security concern (thanks to facial recognition, of strangers even!)’, Google has really succeeded in gathering a lot of eyeballs (pun unintended). J

Rebecca Correia