Trying out Google Glass

At last night’s Hacks/Hackers London, I got the chance to try out Google’s mega-hyped foray into wearable computing.

It was surprisingly light, feeling around the weight of a pair of regular glasses. Once on, Glass is controlled by a combination of voice commands and tapping/stroking of the right-hand side.

Unfortunately, the model I tried wasn’t connected to the Internet (they’re supposed to tether to a smartphone for data) so it wasn’t much more than a voice-activated head-mounted camera. Still, that function alone worked smoothly, and the various accents of those curious enough to try it on were recognised with ease.

For the current going price of $1500, though, you would hope it would be all of the above at the very least.

A more compelling question is: once the novelty factor wears off, will something like Glass be considerably more practical than a smartphone? I’m not sure yet, especially since it was impossible to focus on both the tiny display and the so-called “real world” behind it at the same time.

Published .