Google Glass - Potential Social, Legal and Security Issues

Social Issues - Privacy
Google Glass could very easily be used as an indiscreet spying and recording device for voice and video
Someone shooting with Google Glass does not stand out in a crowd the way that someone shooting with a small or cell phone camera does. Should Google be forced to make the light next to camera mandatory?

Social Issues - Health
Eyesight
Google glass contain fixed-focus lenses that make the display appear to hover in space, farther away than it really is. This can lead to severe eyestrain, which again can be harmful, especially to children.

Radiation
Glass can only access the internet through a wireless Bluetooth connection to the wearer's smart phone. Previous studies have found low-level electromagnetic field exposure from mobiles and other transmitting devices could cause harmful heating of tissue, male infertility and cancer.

Other Social Issues
Distraction
Like smart phones, Google Glass can be distracting and potentially cause accidents

Social Alienation
Google Glass can cause further social isolation. People who wear these are going to be checking their email more, playing games more, "sharing" on the Internet more. They are going to be more self-involved

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Legal Issues - Privacy
Google hasn’t revealed any Glass-related privacy policy, but the fact that the data exists in the cloud puts it
within the reach of third parties. Risk to privacy can be reduced if companies like Google provide people with full control of their own data. Current U.S. statutes allow law enforcement access to e-mail and cell phone records under certain circumstances without a search warrant. Will that be applicable to Google glass’s data?



Legal Issues
There are currently no laws that prohibit the use of augmented-reality eye-wear.
Current prototype of glass requires you to swipe your finger across the earpiece to navigate the menu, which
doesn’t sound particularly safe while driving. West Virginia lawmaker Gary G. Howell, is leading the charge for a law in the state that would ban the use of Google Glass by drivers. Those caught using Google Glass while driving a vehicle would face a $100 fine for the first offense.

Security Issues
Google glass can easily capture information such as ATM pins and Credit card numbers. All of this information can be compromised with a security breach, revealing both the information of the one using Glass and the people they surrounds themselves with.
Hackers with access to your Glass could rob your apartment by knowing when you're not home and where you keep your spare keys, gain access to your PIN and account numbers, and watch your fingers as you type in your passwords to other accounts on your computer.

Google Glass - Industry and Business benefits and impact

Here are some of the industry and business benefits from Google Glass

Retail (“G-commerce”)
Glass could capture a barcode, scour the Google Shopping database and identify available product attributes, enabling the Glass user to add to a virtual cart and purchase. An interesting video on grocery shopping through glass.

Advertising (“Admented Reality”)
Glass can gather a massive amount of extremely personal data based on what you look at and for how long. Google may use this data mining to build even more detailed consumer profiles and/or sell targeted ads. Here's an interesting video of what advertising through google glass or "admented reality" could look like.

Gaming
Using Glass, game developers can overlay game play over the real world

Travel & Tourism
Using Glass, overlaying data and imagery on top of historical buildings & museum exhibits, the ability to do a
quick, relevant voice search without pulling out your phone will make learning about history  more immersive than ever.

Movies
Glass’s theoretical ability to translate spoken language into real-time subtitles, effectively eliminates any
language barrier.



Education

• Glass could be used for recording lectures, live streaming them for remote access, audio-note taking and supplementing lectures with related data. 
• Glass could potentially aid those with learning disabilities and those with certain visual, auditory and physical handicaps.
• Glass opens up new possibilities for teaching people things from a hands-on, first person perspective. Ex. Fixing things, cooking meals, learning to play the guitar.

Personal Healthcare

• Personal applications of Google Glass could help users make healthier choices and track their own health
• Instantly looking up nutrition information
• Visual recognition apps can track what and how much you eat and drink
• Get health tips and instant visual feedback throughout the cooking process.
• A visual overlay could let you follow along with new exercises

Medical Application 

• Doctors could check on patients remotely with live video feeds.
• Doctors could immediately access a patient-personalized stream of information from their electronic databases while examining patients. 
• Doctors could record and instantly transcribe conversations with patients for future reference
• Physicians could look up drug interactions and contraindications based on the patient's medical history.
• Remote surgery assistance.

Google Glass - Everything you need to know

How Google Glass works

• “Glass” - Platform images are projected in combinations with the real world.  
• GPS - Technology that allows the devise to understand where you are and helps populate the data for the current situations
• Graphics - Integrating reality with technology

How does it work?

• Runs on Android
• The device gets data through Wi-Fi on its own, or it can tether via Bluetooth to an Android device or iPhone and use its 3G or 4G data
• Future versions will likely include a cellular antenna
• Embedded camera, microphone, GPS
• Bone-induction will be used for sound
• It will probably use a transparent LCD or AMOLED display
• Google is experimenting with designs that will fit over existing glasses

Walkthrough

• Touch the side of the device (which is actually a touchpad), or tilt your head upward slowly to wake up Glass. 
• Saying “ok glass” gets Glass to wake up to your voice commands. 
• Can also scroll through the options using your finger along the side of the device. You can scroll items by moving 
• your finger backwards or forward along the strip
• You select by tapping, and move "back" by swiping down. 
• Most of the big interactions are done by voice.
• Glass mostly responds by displaying hyper-styled cards full of information, like Google Now

Enhancing the Experience

• Cloud-based API [application programming interface] that will allow developers to integrate with Glass, which 
• enables a wide variety of Glass services while keeping a consistent user experience.
• People are already developing apps for Google Glass - including one that allows you to identify your friends in a 
• crowd
• Explorer Program: Find out how people want to use Glass and help develop social norm

Major Vendors/Developers

• Google X Lab - Project is headed by Babak Parviz of University of Washington
• Warby Parker was supposedly hired to help with the design
• Google might open retail stores where people can try on the glasses

Major Customers

• Anyone with a smart phone
• Government – Applications in Military, Law Enforcement & Rescue Services
• Hospitals/Medical Schools – Emergency response teams, nursing and patient care, physical therapy & surgery observations. 
• Trekkies/Sci-Fy Junkies - “Early Adopters”

On a lighter note, here's Dilbert on what Google glass can do..

Wearable computing - Google Glass vs Iwatch

Wearable computing is an emerging technology that two of the biggest IT companies are vying to get their products out - Apple's Iwatch & Google's Glass. While both are significantly different, iwatch is a wrist watch computer whereas google's glass is a computerized spectacle, they are almost competing with the same smart phone application based features.

Here's a funny showdown of the two. Who wins in the end? Wait & Watch..