Best Invention of 2012 : Introducing Google Glass

Google Glass : Best Invention Of The Year 2012

GOOGLE GLASS! Glass is,simply put,a computer built into the frame of a pair of glasses, and it's the device that will make augmented reality partof our daily lives.With the half inch (1.3 cm) display, which comes into focus when you look up and to the right, users will be able to take and share photos,video chat, check appointments and access map and the Web.Consumers should be able to buy Google Glass by 2014 at estimated price of $1,500 USD.

Google's own Project Glass is a research project taking place in Google X Lab, and it's championed by Google co-founder and Sergey Brin. The goal of the project appears to be the development of a mobile computer that you wear like or on eyeglasses, and which you can use without your hands. Google Glass gives you data in just one eye, and you control it mostly with your voice, or with eye movements.

The advantage of the Google Glass system is that you no longer need to toggle between paying attention to a mobile device and paying attention to reality. You get reality, but with benefits -- namely, information and instant interaction.A camera on the front could let you take pictures with eye movements or voice commands, and also provide input.

What's the Smart Glasses Opportunity?

Juniper Research boldly predicts that the "wearable" computing market will be worth more than $1.5 billion by 2014 (it's worth $800 million this year).

The category includes sci-fi projects like Google Glass and other smart glasses, as well as things like "quantified life" type applications and even the fitness tracker type gadgets already on the market.

I'm absolutely certain that smart glasses will be a huge hit over the next decade for vertical applications, including military, medical, industrial and other areas.

Why Consumers May Reject Google Glasses

1. You're aiming a camera at people.

When people wear these devices all the time, you can't know if they're filming you or taking your picture. If you don't agree that this could make people nervous, try aiming your camera phone at people while you're talking to them. It's going to be socially awkward.

Gadget makers may add a light that tells you when the cameras are running, but you're still aiming a camera and people can't be sure.

2. You're going to look like a geek.

Wearing smart glasses will be akin to riding a Segway -- cool technology, but viewed by the public as something dorky.

There's nothing wrong with Geeks, of course. I'm a geek myself, and don't mind looking like one, as my kids would be happy to tell you.

But geeks are a minority, and we're talking about the larger consumer marketplace.

3. One-eyed displays are psychologically uncomfortable.

When you beam a display into one eye, but not both eyes, the effect is subtly disturbing -- like 3D glasses.

There are some people who don't mind 3D glasses and others who do. For the most part, however, 3D TV technology has been largely rejected by consumers for that reason.

Yes, companies are selling a lot of 3D-capable TVs. But are people watching in 3D? Generally speaking, most consumers choose 2D over 3D because sending different messages to each eye is profoundly unnatural and unsettling.