Technology and the Future

[Navarre]

I was watching one of the clips for Google's Project Glass today. I was wondering what thoughts you had about it and the ongoing infusion of technology in our lives.

[vandalous]

I'm excited for it.  I want my Minority Report-like UI so I can swipe and move stuff out of my way.

[Pearce]

Not too excited to be honest. I dropped my cell phone's data plan and dropped it down to emergency-only 20 minutes per month because I just hate being connected all the time. I'm sure there will become a time where it is necessary, but until that day I refuse to be on the bleeding edge. By that point I should be able to get my neural implants on the cheap so I can finally go hang out with my friends at the Black Sun.

[Alisha Mynx]

I think I'll be more excited when it can be used for interactive adult films.   

Honestly?  I don't know what to think yet.  It seems like it has potential, but there have been many similar items in recent years that we hear about for a while and then they simply vanish from the face of the earth, both from the public eye and/or they stop developing it altogether.

[Navarre]

Most people these days, especially the younger generation, are so fixated on their technology they can barely lift their head from their phone. At least now they have a heads-up display.

I think this will be a future nightmare when it comes to driving safety though.

[Alisha Mynx]

I think this will be a future nightmare when it comes to driving safety though.

This is something I will admit to being scared of happening and I do hope they will take some precaution to prevent it from being the next "texting while driving".  Perhaps some sort of motion sensor of some sort, not unlike the tech in modern video game console controllers, could cause the thing to shut down if it detects movement beyond a certain speed (probably for longer than a few seconds so it doesn't shut down just because you swat at something or are looking outside at a street and a car passes by).  Maybe not an ideal deterrent for every situation, but I'm sure something could be done to prevent people using it while they need to be focusing on the road.

[Navarre]

I like the basic idea. The complaint then may be from those using public transport.

While a safety feature that turns off certain aspects of the glasses if the wearer is going more than, say, ten miles per hour would work well for those driving, it would also eliminate those features for those on buses and subways, airplanes, and stuck as passengers in the car.

hmmm...I do think there has to be something though or we're going to have a lot of people running red lights and driving on sidewalks because they are busy looking at their Major Spoilers notifications.

[Gaumer]

The possibilities are fascinating: Facial recognition and hand recognition are going to be the things that make these worthwhile. That, and a smaller interface, IMO. Google Contacts??

But seriously, facial recognition pops up names and vital info. and even Facebook statuses and stuff. You can know all about people you already know, and learn stuff about people you don't. Networking made easier.

And the hand recognition is where its really at. Once the glasses can tell where you are trying to touch you should be able to interact with the UI in real time.

Then maybe we get eye movement recognition and we won't even have to do that.

My kids are going to have a hell of fun time; absolutely no privacy but a damned good time.

[vandalous]

If you haven't seen the anime Appleseed: Deux Ex Machina, check it out.  That's what I think of when I see augmented-reality optics.