Revolutionary new product can change humanity’s experience of the world. YU students are both excited and apprehensive.
I’m getting googley eyed.
Google has come out with a new piece of technology that makes me think we’ve reached the beginning of the space-age.
Glass is the new brainchild developed by the mysterious Google X Lab. It is a pair of glasses with what feels like a mini smartphone on its side. It can take a picture, record a video, google something, send messages to friends, send e-mails, and translate a phrase.
But I’m sure Google is just getting started with the cool shtick its new creation can do.
The screen of the mini-computer is a tiny clear block on the upper right side of the glasses. To wake it up, a person has to either touch the touchpad on the side of the glasses or tilt his/her head up slowly. The user then addresses Glass by saying “Okay, Glass” and verbalizing the command.
What is the idea behind this ground breakinginvention?
“(We want to) get technology out of the way when you’re doing activity but have it there when you need” explained Steve Lee, Product Director of Google Glass, in an interview with The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky. “(By) bringing technology closer to your senses… it would allow you to connect in a faster way.”
When technology is attached to a person, it is no longer an external force. It’s a part of the human being, like a sixth sense. This way a person can easily do technological things without fumbling with devices.
Here is an example. When a father is recording his daughter perform her part in the school play, he’s stuck being a camera. But with Glass, the father can watch the show while effortlessly recording it, all by saying “Okay Glass, record a video.” He is one with the computer, and doesn’t even have to press a button.
“Okay, Glass.” It flows out of a person’s mouth naturally, as if he or she is almost addressing another being. To me it sounds like someone giving life to a robot, and is almost reminiscent of Rosie, the beloved live-in housekeeping robot that was like a family member to The Jetsons.
However, unlike Rosie, Glass is a deeply intimate experience, and there are significant controversies that come with such a profoundly personal product.
Blatt sisters Esty and Rena Blatt have different thoughts on the invention. Rena, SCW ’15 Psychology major and the younger of the Blatt duo, is optimistic. “I think it’s going to change the world and the way we live. No time will go unforgotten and you don’t have to stop moments to remember them, like to stop and take a picture, to stop and take a video.”
Esty Blatt, a Biology major expecting to graduate SCW in 2014, is apprehensive. “People will never be alone anymore. People will be living in a fake reality, in the reality of Google Glass, which is not reality,” she predicts. “You’ll always be around people. Every constant moment, you’re always with someone. People will never have time to realize who they are if they’re always with someone. Being by yourself is healthy.”
The younger Blatt, Rena, addresses that concern and adds, “I think already today with technology most people are never alone and a person has to make a conscious decision if they want to be by themselves. If a person values alone time, they are going to need to put effort into being alone.”
True freshman and art student, Shiran Bassal, SCW ’16, embraces new technologies like Glass. “I’m really excited about it. It looks really cool because it’s something that’s way above what we have now in technology, and technology is really exciting to me.” But like the older Blatt sister, she is also concerned about the ramifications such powerful technology can have. “I think people will become too dependent on it. They won’t read anything outside of (Glass) because they’ll think Glass can give them all their answers.”.
Technology dependency has been the source of much of the hype around Glass. Baila Kivelevitz, SCW ’15 Psychology major, sums up the concern: “It’s interesting to think about it, how first it was a computer, then a laptop, and today it’s smartphones. And now we get dressed in the morning, and we need a computer to see. It’s part of your attire,” says Kivelevitz. “But I understand why it was created. It’s efficient. It’s basically like having your own personal assistant, except it’s not even in the palm of your hand, it’s in your eye.”
Dahlia Garber, SCW ‘14 history major, agrees that it is useful. “It’s really cool because there is someone like me who always gets lost. It’s helpful to always know where you are.” On the other hand, Garber is still hesitant, and had similar sentiments as Blatt senior. “It’s a constant technology that is in your face when you don’t necessarily always need it. You sometimes need that alone time.”
Additionally, one of the most legally involved concerns is that along with home phones and fax machines, privacy will become a thing of the past. Glass has no visible blinking light indicating if someone is recording, so random passersby’s or even sexual predators have the ability to record images without anyone noticing. Samantha Yekutiel, Sy Syms ’14 Human Resources major, shares this common qualm. “Someone could record me while speaking to me without me realizing. I’m scared of an invasion of privacy.”
Some businesses that forbid recording devices have already banned Glass from their premises.
Many are simply worried that users will use Glass while walking and be so distracted that they could trip or not notice oncoming traffic. “It’s super convenient but I don’t know if it’s so safe because all those messages keep coming up and it can obstruct someone’s vision,” fears Hudi Jacobson, SCW ’14 Economics major
All of the excitement, unease, and curiosity behind this product will have to be suspended in anticipation until the end of the year at least, since Google has not yet given a definitive release date.
It looks like Glass will be the catalyst for the new era of the futuristic high-tech lifestyle we watched on The Jetsons.
Is the world ready?
Google Glass is expected to be available in retail stores by the end of 2013. It is said to be priced at around $1,500.