Decrypt Google Glass (from 36kr)

Editor's note: In April this year, Google launched its first futuristic glasses Google
After the concept video of glass, there were no interruptions in the reports and guesses about the glasses. Last week, David Pogue, a tech columnist in The New York Times, interviewed Babak Parviz, project leader of the glass project, and was lucky enough to try out the new pair of glasses. Now let's take a look at David's in-depth decryption of Google Glass and his imagination for the future.

First, Google does not like to define this product as glasses because it does not have lenses-the square and transparent thing is a screen, the glass team does not like to define it in terms such as "Augmented Reality" and "portable computers", because such terms impose product restrictions. Then, the development team stressed that their R & D of the glasses is still in very early stages-there are still many problems, such as what functions the glasses should implement, what is its interface, how it works, and so on (currently, Google plans to provide prototype to developers next year, that is, in 2013, and the price is about $1500. As for the public, it may not be available until 2014 ).

Let's talk about the actual experience of this pair of glasses. When you really put your glasses on, it is hard to imagine that they are so light. According to my predictions, It is lighter than sunglasses. It can be said that this glasses is definitely an amazing masterpiece of miniaturization and integration of tools.

In the right receiver of this pair of glasses, that is, the horizontal support on your ears, Google uses memory, processor, camera, speaker, microphone, bluetooth and WiFi antennas, accelerometer, probe, compass, and batteries are all installed in it.

In addition, the glasses must be wirelessly connected to your mobile phone to connect to the Internet, but Google said the final glasses version will also support cellular networks to facilitate the Internet of users.

But what is really exciting is that such a lightweight thing is just a prototype of a product. That is to say, in future product iterations, its volume will become smaller and smaller. Babak even said: "This will be the largest version we have made ."

For me, the biggest amazing victory of Google Glass lies in:

When you are chatting, driving, or reading, the screen on your glasses is almost invisible. That is to say, you can forget that there is nothing between your eyes and any object you see and anyone else in the middle.

And when you really move your attention to the whole screen, that is to say, when you gather your eyes to the top right, the small screen around half a foot can create an amazing immersion. It feels like you're staring at a large computer screen or something similar. (Although I usually wear a pair of glasses when watching near things, but through the close-up display on Google Glass, I think the scenes in my eyes are pulled far enough, so I don't need to wear any more glasses. Otherwise, I think it would be strange to bring another pair of glasses under Google Glass .)

It can be said that Google Glass's Hardware breakthrough lies there. Google is carefully processing this product to ensure that the foundation of the product is as good as possible during the first test, so that the product iteration in the later stage will be smoother. However, even in the first trial, we can see amazing potential from this product. Pariz emphasizes that Google Glass is designed for two purposes-you don't need to use your hands or get anything from your pockets, so you can share your information and get it instantly.

How can you control the glasses? You only need to put your finger on the right receiver and slide in different directions, because the receiver is actually a touchpad. That is to say, you only need to move your fingers to implement menu navigation. In addition, Google has shown you countless times that you can take photos, watch videos, make phone calls, and navigate and view calendars on Google map, all of these features can be done with a touch at your fingertips.

In a recent product presentation, Google proved to us that you can control glasses through speech recognition. You only need to say "OK, glass" to start the menu.

To demonstrate how Google Glass actually changes the way users share their lives with others, I also experienced a demo. In this demo, a scene suddenly appeared in the jungle, and a wooden bridge exists in front of me. Then, the music of the Jurassic Park began to be remembered in my ears on the right.

However, when I look in different directions around the left and right, my field of view also changes, as if I had taken my own helmet that was often used in VR technology. Glasses have incredible accuracy in tracking my head orientation and feedback on virtual scenes. In addition, as long as I touch the touchpad, I can switch the scenario.

For David

However, there is still a long way to go before this prototype becomes a human-wearing machine. In addition to determining the design of glasses, Google also needs to lower the price. In addition, they also need to deal with issues such as personal privacy and device interference with users (although I don't have to worry about interference as before after I bring this pair of glasses ). However, users who originally wore glasses may need to wait until Google integrates the glasses with their daily glasses to use them conveniently.

In addition to the existing functions of Google Glass, we are also waiting for Google Glass to launch a killer feature that truly makes us stunned, which cannot be achieved by our mobile phones (except for the advantage that we don't need to use our hands ). Because many people do not even want to bring special glasses to watch 3D TV, but if Google wants to convince them to bring it all day long, we need to launch a powerful and unimaginable app.

But there are still a few things that are very clear-Google Glass's speed and power consumption, its small size and light weight, its clear and effective audio and video functions have gone beyond my imagination. In addition, Google has also made a lot of effort in the design of this product, whether on hardware or software, and this is very important for a private portable tool. Also, even in such a prototype, you can see that Google is trying to build a clear, simple enough user experience-this is of course a smart approach.

In short, it is too early to predict the success or failure of Google Glass. But it is obvious that compared with other machines, this machine has an unprecedented potential, and Google itself is also taking product development to a correct path.

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