For an unreleased, unfinished, and entirely unavailable product to have as much excitement as Google’s Glass, it’s hard not to imagine a world where wearable tech is something that you see every day. In an attempt to help users see themselves wearing Glass, Google hosted a competition where anyone could tell a creative story about what they would do if they had Glass.
Tens of thousands participated across the social networks, and while Google has yet to select any winners we here at Geek.com have picked a few of our favorites to save you from digging through the hashtags. In case you were wondering, the winners will receive pairs of Google’s high-tech smart glasses, though the company did not explain how many units they would be sending out.
Alaska Airlines
I think we can all agree that anything that helps us get on the plane faster is a good thing. The team at Alaska Airlines suggests that using Google Glass they would be able to simply glance down at a ticket and glance up at a person’s face to get them on a plane. It makes sense, when you think about facial recognition software and barcode scanners that already exist as apps for smartphones today. The employee could take your ticket, pull up your information, and glance up to confirm that you are who your ticket says you are. All of this could happen in real time, and with what would essentially be a series of head gestures you would be on your way to your seat.
AR Games
The biggest problem with playing a real world augmented reality game with a computer strapped to your head is the dangers that come doing things like accidentally walking into traffic, be it pedestrian or automotive. The minimally invasive design for Glass makes it less likely that you’ll physically injure yourself or others by chasing around a virtual object in a live setting. Greg Miernicki applies this concept to Google’s Ingress game, so the users could see portals as they walk by instead of wandering around with a pulsing radar in their hands.
Emergency medical situations
How many lives could be saved if the person at the other end of a 911 phone call was able to see what you saw and could offer real time advice based on your view of a situation? Agency Republic presents this exact scenario, where users would be able to follow the live instructions of a 911 representative before emergency responders arrived on the scene. The live view from the camera of a Glass headset would make it possible for emergency responders to know exactly what to expect when they arrived on scene, and better decide what additional support was needed.
Taking that thought one step further down the trauma line, the North Shore-LIJ Health System makes a compelling case for using Glass in the Emergency Room, being able to share the operation with those outside of the surgery for real time second opinions. Glass would give someone like Dr. Louis Kavoussi access to unlimited resources while he was operating, without ever needing to reach out and touch anything but his patient.
First person sports
By now we’ve all seen Google’s impressive introduction to Glass, a spectacular live jump out of a blimp onto the rooftop of the Moscone West convention center, so we’ve already got a taste of what the world of first person action would be like with Glass on. The Indianapolis Colts take this concept onto the field, making the case for the “ultimate behind-the-scenes experience” with Glass. It’s hard to imagine any Football fan not wanted to see that last play from the perspective of their favorite player, or to want to watch as the Quarterback from the other team is smashed to the ground from the perspective of his helmet. Glass may be a little too fragile for something as impact heavy as football, but first person sports in any arena would be a fantastic experience to have.
LeVar Burton
Of the many, many submissions that included #ifihadglass, hands down the funniest came from the one actor whose career defining character is most associated with Project Glass. Glass would most certainly be a downgrade for Geordi La Forge, especially later in Star Trek: TNG when the visor was replaced with robotic eyeball replacements. That doesn’t mean that the Reading Rainbow figurehead wouldn’t benefit from them today, but it’s an appropriate response given the number of times Mr. Burton’s character has been associated with the look of Google Glass
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