London It’s 4pm and I need a caffeine fix on the unfamiliar streets of San Francisco. I would normally whip out my phone, go online to find the nearest coffee shop and put the address into its navigational system. Instead, I tap the side of my head: “Okay Glass, where’s the nearest Starbucks?”
In a split second a crystal-clear map appears to hover magically in my line of vision, showing the nearest branch a couple of blocks away. As I walk a reassuring female voice gives me directions through a “bone conductor” behind my right ear.
It is only when I walk into the coffee shop that the spell is broken. “What on Earth is that on your head?” someone asks.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Google Glass.
Last week, I became the first British newspaper journalist invited to “test-drive” the £1 000 (R14 470) device at Google’s annual conference for developers, a meeting of 6 000 geeks and nerds who, to a man (there are hardly any women), agree that Glass is the future – a gadget that will replace the ubiquitous smartphone as a “must-have” and morph into a multibillion-pound industry.
The first mass-produced version of Glass could be on sale next Christmas. But the hi-tech specs have already raised major privacy concerns amid fears that people will use them to surreptitiously take pictures and record videos.
Congressmen wrote to Google chief executive Larry Page asking what steps were being taken to protect the privacy of non-users.
Google replied: “We are thinking very carefully about how we design Glass. New technology always raises new issues.”
It is an app that allows the wearer to take a photo simply by winking that has raised privacy concerns. Google says it is impossible to video people secretly since a light in the glass prism goes on when the device is filming. But in Starbucks, I film those around me for several minutes and no one notices, including a couple canoodling in the corner and a woman scolding her child.
Some casinos, restaurants and cinema chains have already said they will ban the glasses.
Yet Seattle entrepreneur Mike Koss told me: “People have this notion that when you are wearing Glass you are able to spy on people on the street without them knowing. But it isn’t what I would choose if I wanted to secretly tape someone. Glass attracts far too much attention.”
Indeed, as soon as I put mine on, I feel rather silly. Made from titanium and lightweight plastic, it is surprisingly light and comfortable. Only the stares of others remind you that you’re wearing them.
And they are surprisingly simple to use, even for a technophobe like me.
The device receives data through wi-fi independently or can be connected to a cellphone via Bluetooth. On the right-hand side of the frame is a plastic touchpad. You “wake up” Glass by lightly tapping it with your finger or by tilting your head back quickly (not a good look).
This opens up the home screen and the wearer then issues commands by saying “okay Glass” and then “take a picture”, “take a video”, “how do I get to... ?” You scroll by swiping a finger along the frame. Googling anything, of course, works brilliantly. Ask “Who is Bill Clinton?” and you get pages of notes to browse.
They might be the latest in “geek chic” but as a fashion statement, Glass has a long way to go. Designer Diane von Furstenberg has been approached to make Glass more “female-friendly”.
Google showcased other new products at its conference. Among them were the Street View Trekker Backpack, a backpack version of the all-seeing eye atop the Street View car, and Google Plus Auto Awesome, software that automatically tweaks and improves photos.
Critics argue Glass could go the way of the Segway or the Sinclair C5 – overhyped inventions that quickly fizzled out. I disagree. Once it becomes the norm to wear Glass, I suspect we’ll all be happy to make spectacles of ourselves. – Mail on Sunday