From the article: … I think these could be useful, but they will be like goggles you put on for specific work tasks. Like having headphones on, it says you’re not entirely present. When I swap my...
From the article:
Once people realized my glasses were full of tech, conversations often took a turn for the awkward — and they mostly unfolded the same way:
“Are you recording me?” (No, I’m not.)
“Where are the cameras?” (There aren’t any!)
“You’re really not recording me?” (No!)
Then, to top it all off, a tedious explanation about what the glasses are, who makes them, and what they can and can’t do.
All that skepticism is absolutely warranted. The glasses do have microphones, though they are very difficult to trigger accidentally. The growing popularity of glasses with microphones and cameras represents a heightened chance that someone who doesn’t stress over personal boundaries captures moments that were never meant to be collected. I can’t blame anyone who would reflexively try to avoid that.
But imagine this same interaction happening over and over, when you strike up a conversation with someone new, or a pal who hasn’t seen your new frames before.
…
The other big reason some people didn’t seem thrilled was a surprise: They thought I was ignoring them. It took a little while to unpack why, and it was rarely because I had spaced out.
Turns out, once people knew what the glasses could do, they would catch a glimpse of the waveguides from the front and — because they are extremely reflective — assumed the “screens” were on and I was reading an email or something else.
It wasn’t just friends and colleagues who felt this way. My wife still sometimes thinks I’m reading news headlines through the glasses even when I’m looking right at her.
I think these could be useful, but they will be like goggles you put on for specific work tasks. Like having headphones on, it says you’re not entirely present. When I swap my hearing aids for AirPods, they are socially very different, even though they contain similar technology. (Both have speakers, microphones, and bluetooth.)
In a era we need more time away from screens, data, telemetry and generally to just disconnect and be a part of communities, people are strapping fucking screens directly to their face. Cool.
In a era we need more time away from screens, data, telemetry and generally to just disconnect and be a part of communities, people are strapping fucking screens directly to their face.
One of the people I know with the most healthy relationship with tech uses XReal glasses daily. He doesn’t use any proprietary software, nor any software/protocols he can’t self host (with the...
One of the people I know with the most healthy relationship with tech uses XReal glasses daily. He doesn’t use any proprietary software, nor any software/protocols he can’t self host (with the except of texting/phone calls). He even has a Linux phone and a laptop with FOSS firmware.
Another guy I know works on smart glasses and just uses them for accessibility. They provide him subtitles in real life.
Not a surgeon, but I do have an actual use case for a heads-up display. Smart glasses that could show an overlay navigation guide or architectural prints while I'm walking around unfamiliar...
Not a surgeon, but I do have an actual use case for a heads-up display. Smart glasses that could show an overlay navigation guide or architectural prints while I'm walking around unfamiliar hospitals would be ideal. I've tried the Viture Pro headset, and it leaves a lot to be desired if you're not stationary while using it.
Some people grow to the point that the tool makes sense for who they are. Some societies put smartphones in the hands of kids and wonder why they behave like they're addicted to drugs. I'm sure...
Some people grow to the point that the tool makes sense for who they are.
Some societies put smartphones in the hands of kids and wonder why they behave like they're addicted to drugs.
I'm sure that the example of your pal isn't a broad stroke tech = good argument, but I figured I'd weigh in with my bummer take anyway.
Our society doesn't need screens on faces right now.
Just curious what he uses the xreal glasses for? I looked into those awhile back for coding on the road but seemed like the resolution was still too low.
Just curious what he uses the xreal glasses for? I looked into those awhile back for coding on the road but seemed like the resolution was still too low.
I still can't figure out what the day to day use case of these things are. What daily task can these accomplish that my smartphone isn't already "good enough" for? Most use cases I've seen for...
I still can't figure out what the day to day use case of these things are. What daily task can these accomplish that my smartphone isn't already "good enough" for?
Most use cases I've seen for augmented reality seem pretty niche, like providing visualizations for surgery or various industrial applications. These aren't things normal people do every day.
A HUD for navigation would be pretty nice sometimes. As would (near) real-time translations if speaking to someone in a different language. Even "subtitles" for talking to someone in the same...
A HUD for navigation would be pretty nice sometimes. As would (near) real-time translations if speaking to someone in a different language. Even "subtitles" for talking to someone in the same language might help fill in missed words in a noisy environment.
A smart phone can do all these things, but to me, that feels like it would be more intrusive. Though based on the author's experience, maybe it's still better to do these things deliberately and be obviously "intrusive" when using technology in this way.
I think these kind of things just don't make sense until they do. There are genuinely feasible use-case scenarios people can posit, but it will take a few generations of iteration and tech...
I think these kind of things just don't make sense until they do. There are genuinely feasible use-case scenarios people can posit, but it will take a few generations of iteration and tech advancement/miniaturization for the utility to match existing tools. Think of all the cool-looking futuristic personal tech displays in any sort of cyberpunk fiction. Then, work backward from those... there'd have to be a bunch of discarded prototypes and ugly, "useless," obsolete models on the way to get there.
Having said that, I personally have no desire for it.
I initially thought of a grocery list, but then I realised that an always-on reminder/checklist have a nice range of application: measurement for wood working, sheet music when learning a new...
I initially thought of a grocery list, but then I realised that an always-on reminder/checklist have a nice range of application: measurement for wood working, sheet music when learning a new tune, recipe when cooking, talking point when doing a speech...
The best use I’ve seen so far for smart glasses was a blind woman using a pair of the Meta ones to help with really mundane tasks she struggles with. She asked it which lipstick was which, whether...
The best use I’ve seen so far for smart glasses was a blind woman using a pair of the Meta ones to help with really mundane tasks she struggles with. She asked it which lipstick was which, whether a carton contained soy milk or stock, what color a shirt was. I believe she was using a combination of ai and the BeMyEyes app.
They will probably become fashionable if nothing else. I can’t see myself wanting them, I wear contacts because I hate wearing glasses. I’m waiting for the upcharge that comes with either transition lenses or something more screen like - pick whatever color lenses you want to suit your mood! Then again, I didn’t understand why anyone would want an iPad for a really long time, yet I’m typing this on my iPad.
I personally see the iPad as too much of a content consumption device. Unless you’re an artist it feels like it will inevitably become a means to having more Netflix and YouTube in your life....
I personally see the iPad as too much of a content consumption device. Unless you’re an artist it feels like it will inevitably become a means to having more Netflix and YouTube in your life. There’s already enough of that.
I use my iPad Mini for web browsing (including social. networks), reading books, email, chat, and occasionally listening to music. I also started collecting sheet music on it rather than printing...
I use my iPad Mini for web browsing (including social. networks), reading books, email, chat, and occasionally listening to music. I also started collecting sheet music on it rather than printing it out. It’s much like a phone except with a bigger screen, less convenient to bring with you, and no cell service. Some days when I’m home, I hardly use my phone at all.
At one time I used it for video calls, but I use my laptop nowadays.
I use my iPad for art primarily, but I also use it for the majority of my daily "computer" tasks. I very rarely watch things on it unless it's a tutorial for some sort of art thing I want to try,...
I use my iPad for art primarily, but I also use it for the majority of my daily "computer" tasks. I very rarely watch things on it unless it's a tutorial for some sort of art thing I want to try, or I plug it into the TV when I'm traveling to watch my own things instead of actual TV.
I also use it to read a lot. I read books as audiobooks, but if I'm reading an article or a research paper, it's on my iPad. It's good for me for that purpose because I have ADHD and can't sit still or like a normal person, and it reduces eye strain for me than a traditional screen since it's easier to customize with accessibility features.
I also use it for recipes I find on pinterest so I can cook with a larger screen instead of a tiny phone.
It's amazing how Google pioneered the technology, released it at an unaffordable price tag, discontinued the product within less than two years, then Meta and Ray-Ban ran off with the idea, made...
It's amazing how Google pioneered the technology, released it at an unaffordable price tag, discontinued the product within less than two years, then Meta and Ray-Ban ran off with the idea, made their own smartglasses and released them for about a fifth of the cost.
I wouldn't wear them because I'm worried someone is going to accuse me of recording them and throw a punch at me.
It should also be mentioned that the "consumer" version of it was always marketed as an early and unpolished version that was designed primarily for developers. That's why it was so unpopular; it...
It should also be mentioned that the "consumer" version of it was always marketed as an early and unpolished version that was designed primarily for developers. That's why it was so unpopular; it wasn't meant for regular people.
They were decently hard to get. Even if you could afford the price tag there wasn't a way to just buy them in a store, you had to apply for them. As a CS student at the time that was excited about...
They were decently hard to get. Even if you could afford the price tag there wasn't a way to just buy them in a store, you had to apply for them. As a CS student at the time that was excited about wearables I tried to get some through/for the department and never got any.
Curse of the early adopter. Google Glass was decently ahead of time on the tech. Parts simply weren't cheap to make that small at the time. Even then I don't think the poor audience reception was...
Curse of the early adopter. Google Glass was decently ahead of time on the tech. Parts simply weren't cheap to make that small at the time. Even then I don't think the poor audience reception was the price, I seem to recall people had concerns about privacy and worried about constantly being recorded.
Meta had a decade tech development and market research to use. By now, smart watches and other tech doodads are far more accepted among the general populace, glasses weren't going to be far behind. Especially ones with the Ray-Ban look.
The title really ought to be "I spent months living with smart glasses. People talk to me differently when I'm wearing them". The article title makes it sound as though there's been some permanent...
The title really ought to be "I spent months living with smart glasses. People talk to me differently nowwhen I'm wearing them".
The article title makes it sound as though there's been some permanent effect upon him, and therefore that you're about to read something more shocking than it is. It's still an interesting article, dunno why they felt the need to use this cheap trick....
Yeah, going in I wondered whether their friends had learned some different behavior somehow. The headline is unclear and my guess is that they didn’t notice that it could be interpreted that way.
Yeah, going in I wondered whether their friends had learned some different behavior somehow.
The headline is unclear and my guess is that they didn’t notice that it could be interpreted that way.
The reactions he describes from people seems odd. I wonder if SF being a tech forward area actually makes it more likely to run into people with strong negative assumptions or opinions. I just...
The reactions he describes from people seems odd. I wonder if SF being a tech forward area actually makes it more likely to run into people with strong negative assumptions or opinions. I just can't imagine getting much of a negative reaction from folks in my day to day, if they even noticed. As long as the glasses themselves weren't distracting, then people I interact with trust that I'm not going to record people, and I hope would realize anyone can surreptitiously record without smart glasses.
I don't personally see a ton of value in them, but find the negative reactions listed strange.
People still value their privacy when actually confronted with the issue, regardless of the locale. If the smart glasses were indistinguishable from regular glasses and people only found out that...
People still value their privacy when actually confronted with the issue, regardless of the locale. If the smart glasses were indistinguishable from regular glasses and people only found out that he was wearing them after the fact, I'm pretty sure there'd have been way less friction.
I guess my point is, I don't think people I've known for years would think to ask if I'm recording them, or ask me to take them off, or get icy. Because people I've known for years trust me a lot...
I guess my point is, I don't think people I've known for years would think to ask if I'm recording them, or ask me to take them off, or get icy. Because people I've known for years trust me a lot more than they might fear tech. So I'm not knocking people wanting privacy, I'm finding this guy's personal experiences really weird that so many people around him find him sus.
Contrary to the author's experience, I think my smart glasses have actually made me a bit more approachable, at least when I go into the office… I just don't use the "smart" features, much like my...
Contrary to the author's experience, I think my smart glasses have actually made me a bit more approachable, at least when I go into the office… I just don't use the "smart" features, much like my air-gapped TVs.
I have a pair of Zuckerglasses (WiFi-blocked immediately after setup and factory reset every 28 days to wipe telemetry before mandatory check-in) and use them exclusively for audio. Due to the directional audio, they're nearly silent to bystanders at 20% volume; as there's no device in/covering my ears, coworkers are less hesitant to approach me while I'm listening to music.
People used to make fun of early computer nerds, and now look at us now, our noses buried in portable pocket computers. I think the nice thing is, we may have a new coke moment. When Coke tried to...
People used to make fun of early computer nerds, and now look at us now, our noses buried in portable pocket computers.
I think the nice thing is, we may have a new coke moment. When Coke tried to taste test their New Coke formula, to combat the incredibly successful Pepsi Challenge, they found a small but vocal minority hated the idea of changing the classic Coke formula, and swayed everyone else with their vocal lobbying for not changing an American Classic. Coke, of course, figured out how to weed out these trouble makers, and once they were removed, everyone agreed that New Coke was better tasting, even better than Pepsi. Of course, when Coke released New Coke, they found... that a small but vocal minority convinced everyone that Coke should not change an American Classic, so everyone clamored for Classic Coke. Somehow, Coke had Forrest Gumped their way to success, because now everyone wanted to buy Classic Coke instead of the clearly better tasting Pepsi.
The point is, there is a small but vocal minority who hate smart glasses. While smart glasses could take off, they will face a significant uphill battle. Because there is a small but vocal minority who hate glassholes. The only glassholes I know personally, are VPs and above at my work. I should ask them about the reception they get socially.
And a vast majority that hasn't meaningfully had a reason to take a stance at all because virtually no one uses smart glasses. Thus far, they're culturally irrelevant, which is why I don't agree...
The point is, there is a small but vocal minority who hate smart glasses.
And a vast majority that hasn't meaningfully had a reason to take a stance at all because virtually no one uses smart glasses. Thus far, they're culturally irrelevant, which is why I don't agree with the New Coke analogy.
Ten years ago John Stewart covered the pushback of Google Glass on The Daily Show. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna55401663 Not that this will change your mind, but I am not sure you caught the...
Ten years ago John Stewart covered the pushback of Google Glass on The Daily Show.
There's also a small but vocal minority that hate basic amenities like Healthcare, a living wage, and apparently common decency. We really need more people to be loud and show what really prevails.
The point is, there is a small but vocal minority who hate smart glasses.
There's also a small but vocal minority that hate basic amenities like Healthcare, a living wage, and apparently common decency.
We really need more people to be loud and show what really prevails.
From the article:
…
I think these could be useful, but they will be like goggles you put on for specific work tasks. Like having headphones on, it says you’re not entirely present. When I swap my hearing aids for AirPods, they are socially very different, even though they contain similar technology. (Both have speakers, microphones, and bluetooth.)
In a era we need more time away from screens, data, telemetry and generally to just disconnect and be a part of communities, people are strapping fucking screens directly to their face.
Cool.
One of the people I know with the most healthy relationship with tech uses XReal glasses daily. He doesn’t use any proprietary software, nor any software/protocols he can’t self host (with the except of texting/phone calls). He even has a Linux phone and a laptop with FOSS firmware.
Another guy I know works on smart glasses and just uses them for accessibility. They provide him subtitles in real life.
Not a surgeon, but I do have an actual use case for a heads-up display. Smart glasses that could show an overlay navigation guide or architectural prints while I'm walking around unfamiliar hospitals would be ideal. I've tried the Viture Pro headset, and it leaves a lot to be desired if you're not stationary while using it.
Some people grow to the point that the tool makes sense for who they are.
Some societies put smartphones in the hands of kids and wonder why they behave like they're addicted to drugs.
I'm sure that the example of your pal isn't a broad stroke tech = good argument, but I figured I'd weigh in with my bummer take anyway.
Our society doesn't need screens on faces right now.
Just curious what he uses the xreal glasses for? I looked into those awhile back for coding on the road but seemed like the resolution was still too low.
It’s 1080p. He uses them for coding (emacs) and general computing.
I still can't figure out what the day to day use case of these things are. What daily task can these accomplish that my smartphone isn't already "good enough" for?
Most use cases I've seen for augmented reality seem pretty niche, like providing visualizations for surgery or various industrial applications. These aren't things normal people do every day.
A HUD for navigation would be pretty nice sometimes. As would (near) real-time translations if speaking to someone in a different language. Even "subtitles" for talking to someone in the same language might help fill in missed words in a noisy environment.
A smart phone can do all these things, but to me, that feels like it would be more intrusive. Though based on the author's experience, maybe it's still better to do these things deliberately and be obviously "intrusive" when using technology in this way.
I think these kind of things just don't make sense until they do. There are genuinely feasible use-case scenarios people can posit, but it will take a few generations of iteration and tech advancement/miniaturization for the utility to match existing tools. Think of all the cool-looking futuristic personal tech displays in any sort of cyberpunk fiction. Then, work backward from those... there'd have to be a bunch of discarded prototypes and ugly, "useless," obsolete models on the way to get there.
Having said that, I personally have no desire for it.
I initially thought of a grocery list, but then I realised that an always-on reminder/checklist have a nice range of application: measurement for wood working, sheet music when learning a new tune, recipe when cooking, talking point when doing a speech...
The best use I’ve seen so far for smart glasses was a blind woman using a pair of the Meta ones to help with really mundane tasks she struggles with. She asked it which lipstick was which, whether a carton contained soy milk or stock, what color a shirt was. I believe she was using a combination of ai and the BeMyEyes app.
They will probably become fashionable if nothing else. I can’t see myself wanting them, I wear contacts because I hate wearing glasses. I’m waiting for the upcharge that comes with either transition lenses or something more screen like - pick whatever color lenses you want to suit your mood! Then again, I didn’t understand why anyone would want an iPad for a really long time, yet I’m typing this on my iPad.
I personally see the iPad as too much of a content consumption device. Unless you’re an artist it feels like it will inevitably become a means to having more Netflix and YouTube in your life. There’s already enough of that.
As I’ve gotten older my eyesight has grown a lot worse. I get less eye strain on my iPad than I do on my phone.
I use my iPad Mini for web browsing (including social. networks), reading books, email, chat, and occasionally listening to music. I also started collecting sheet music on it rather than printing it out. It’s much like a phone except with a bigger screen, less convenient to bring with you, and no cell service. Some days when I’m home, I hardly use my phone at all.
At one time I used it for video calls, but I use my laptop nowadays.
I use my iPad for art primarily, but I also use it for the majority of my daily "computer" tasks. I very rarely watch things on it unless it's a tutorial for some sort of art thing I want to try, or I plug it into the TV when I'm traveling to watch my own things instead of actual TV.
I also use it to read a lot. I read books as audiobooks, but if I'm reading an article or a research paper, it's on my iPad. It's good for me for that purpose because I have ADHD and can't sit still or like a normal person, and it reduces eye strain for me than a traditional screen since it's easier to customize with accessibility features.
I also use it for recipes I find on pinterest so I can cook with a larger screen instead of a tiny phone.
It's amazing how Google pioneered the technology, released it at an unaffordable price tag, discontinued the product within less than two years, then Meta and Ray-Ban ran off with the idea, made their own smartglasses and released them for about a fifth of the cost.
I wouldn't wear them because I'm worried someone is going to accuse me of recording them and throw a punch at me.
As a consumer device, Google Glass was pretty unpopular, but they sold the business version until 2023.
Apparently they are pretty useful for surgery?
It should also be mentioned that the "consumer" version of it was always marketed as an early and unpolished version that was designed primarily for developers. That's why it was so unpopular; it wasn't meant for regular people.
They were decently hard to get. Even if you could afford the price tag there wasn't a way to just buy them in a store, you had to apply for them. As a CS student at the time that was excited about wearables I tried to get some through/for the department and never got any.
Curse of the early adopter. Google Glass was decently ahead of time on the tech. Parts simply weren't cheap to make that small at the time. Even then I don't think the poor audience reception was the price, I seem to recall people had concerns about privacy and worried about constantly being recorded.
Meta had a decade tech development and market research to use. By now, smart watches and other tech doodads are far more accepted among the general populace, glasses weren't going to be far behind. Especially ones with the Ray-Ban look.
Android XR is coming possibly this year, and it seems like it's going to be worthwhile.
Mirror: https://archive.is/h3cV3
The title really ought to be "I spent months living with smart glasses. People talk to me differently
nowwhen I'm wearing them".The article title makes it sound as though there's been some permanent effect upon him, and therefore that you're about to read something more shocking than it is. It's still an interesting article, dunno why they felt the need to use this cheap trick....
Yeah, going in I wondered whether their friends had learned some different behavior somehow.
The headline is unclear and my guess is that they didn’t notice that it could be interpreted that way.
I read it precisely the same way, with the same curiosity as you.
I expect you're probably right though. Don't attribute to malice that which etc etc
The reactions he describes from people seems odd. I wonder if SF being a tech forward area actually makes it more likely to run into people with strong negative assumptions or opinions. I just can't imagine getting much of a negative reaction from folks in my day to day, if they even noticed. As long as the glasses themselves weren't distracting, then people I interact with trust that I'm not going to record people, and I hope would realize anyone can surreptitiously record without smart glasses.
I don't personally see a ton of value in them, but find the negative reactions listed strange.
People still value their privacy when actually confronted with the issue, regardless of the locale. If the smart glasses were indistinguishable from regular glasses and people only found out that he was wearing them after the fact, I'm pretty sure there'd have been way less friction.
I guess my point is, I don't think people I've known for years would think to ask if I'm recording them, or ask me to take them off, or get icy. Because people I've known for years trust me a lot more than they might fear tech. So I'm not knocking people wanting privacy, I'm finding this guy's personal experiences really weird that so many people around him find him sus.
Contrary to the author's experience, I think my smart glasses have actually made me a bit more approachable, at least when I go into the office… I just don't use the "smart" features, much like my air-gapped TVs.
I have a pair of Zuckerglasses (WiFi-blocked immediately after setup and factory reset every 28 days to wipe telemetry before mandatory check-in) and use them exclusively for audio. Due to the directional audio, they're nearly silent to bystanders at 20% volume; as there's no device in/covering my ears, coworkers are less hesitant to approach me while I'm listening to music.
If you only use it for audio, why are using them instead of a regular bone conduction headset, like Shockz?
They were free. They also have transition lenses / double as a decent pair of sunglasses.
Interesting. They don't have a screen like the ones reviewed, though?
Right, that's coming in Orion (which is 70° FoV 480p vs the G1's 25° 200p).
People used to make fun of early computer nerds, and now look at us now, our noses buried in portable pocket computers.
I think the nice thing is, we may have a new coke moment. When Coke tried to taste test their New Coke formula, to combat the incredibly successful Pepsi Challenge, they found a small but vocal minority hated the idea of changing the classic Coke formula, and swayed everyone else with their vocal lobbying for not changing an American Classic. Coke, of course, figured out how to weed out these trouble makers, and once they were removed, everyone agreed that New Coke was better tasting, even better than Pepsi. Of course, when Coke released New Coke, they found... that a small but vocal minority convinced everyone that Coke should not change an American Classic, so everyone clamored for Classic Coke. Somehow, Coke had Forrest Gumped their way to success, because now everyone wanted to buy Classic Coke instead of the clearly better tasting Pepsi.
The point is, there is a small but vocal minority who hate smart glasses. While smart glasses could take off, they will face a significant uphill battle. Because there is a small but vocal minority who hate glassholes. The only glassholes I know personally, are VPs and above at my work. I should ask them about the reception they get socially.
And a vast majority that hasn't meaningfully had a reason to take a stance at all because virtually no one uses smart glasses. Thus far, they're culturally irrelevant, which is why I don't agree with the New Coke analogy.
Ten years ago John Stewart covered the pushback of Google Glass on The Daily Show.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna55401663
Not that this will change your mind, but I am not sure you caught the reference to glassholes, because at the time it was very culturally relevant.
There's also a small but vocal minority that hate basic amenities like Healthcare, a living wage, and apparently common decency.
We really need more people to be loud and show what really prevails.
"The four-eyes shall inherit the earth".