Google Glasses- Are We Ready?

By Kaitlynn Bayne

When the first announcements came out about the Google Glasses, nobody could get enough of it.  The sci-fi future fantasy was becoming reality.  But Google Glasses have a long way to go before we will start seeing everyone walking around in them.  

Last year, I had the opportunity to try one of the first models of the glasses.  I waited in line for nearly 20 minutes as person after person tested out the glasses, and inevitably, took “selfies” in them.  The anticipation was killing me, but I finally got my turn with the glasses.  I was given a command to do a Google search.  After I gave the command, results appeared on the small screen located on the top right of the glasses.  I’ll admit it, I thought it was super cool and tried out a few commands before letting the next person try them on.

After trying out the glasses, I began to think of how weird it would be to see people walking down the streets with Google Glasses on.  I wouldn’t call them the most visually pleasing, as there is a visible screen/camera device on top of the right lens. But even more importantly, they seemed like a very easy distraction.  I started to think about what would happen if people wore these while driving.  It seems like the results would be very similar to what happens when people text and drive.  


Some research has proven that Google Glasses do, in fact, cause some disruption to vision.  A recent study at UCSF found that the glasses disrupt the peripheral vision of the person wearing them due to the prism (the screen/camera device I mentioned earlier).  Although it isn’t what I had initially thought of, it would be a very dangerous part of wearing them.  


It isn’t very practical to have a blind spot hindering one from their daily activities.  So this begs the question: are we, as consumers, ready for Google Glasses?  Personally, I think Google should take their time to come up with a few more models with more consideration to safety.  And hey, maybe by that point, the sci-fi look of the glasses will be in style! 

Source:http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/11/04/google-glass-blocks-peripheral-vision/

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