Google announced that it has started public testing of its AR smart glasses, Cnet reported. Initially, there are going to be several dozens of the AR glasses that would be put to test out in public spaces though that figure would be ramped up to hundreds of glasses by the end of the year itself. As of now, Google’s focus with its smart glass project is to let the integrated cameras to develop the ability to recognize real world objects using AI. It is somewhat similar to letting smartphone cameras do the same using Google Lens.
However, the glasses won’t be able to take any pictures or record videos as of now. Plus, there are other restrictions on the sort of places that the field testers will be able to visit when they are putting the glasses on trial. For instance, schools, children’s play areas, government buildings, places of worship, health care centers, locations where emergency response teams are at work, areas where rallies or protests are being held, and such are being kept off the list of places the Google glasses can be put to test.
Google is also adopting a different strategy when it comes to defining the functionality of the glasses. For instance, those aren’t being designed for entertainment and fun. Rather, Google is keen to see the glasses being used for such tasks as visual search, translation, transcription, and so on. Another area where the glasses are being envisaged for use includes navigation where it is going to work in conjugation with heads-up overlays the sort of which Google Maps uses on phones.
Google said “an LED indicator will turn on if image data will be saved for analysis and debugging. If a bystander desires, they can ask the tester to delete the image data and it will be removed from all logs.” The glasses won’t shoot an image or video as such but will collect image data for its assistive AI. Google has assured that “the image data is deleted, except if the image data will be used for analysis and debugging. In that case, the image data is first scrubbed for sensitive content, including faces and license plates. Then it is stored on a secure server, with limited access by a small number of Googlers for analysis and debugging. After 30 days, it is deleted.”
Such glasses aren’t anything new at Google though, having tested the Google Glass a decade back. However, it ran into controversies back then with many citing privacy issues, and rightfully so, over the Google Glasses’ ability to shoot pictures. The Mountain View company seems to be treading a cautious path now and is avoiding all such contentious issues this time, focussing instead on AI-based assistive and utilitarian uses. The company also hasn’t stated when they wish to launch the commercial version of the AR glasses right now.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in the world of technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles as well, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. Motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot and maybe I’ll make a film sometime in the future.