Uploaded June 2014 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Review of Google Glass.Most people in my corporate audiences across the world tell me that they are not interested in wearing Google Glasses -- but then by June 2014, most had still never actually held one in their hands.
Google Glass is an ingenious device that feels still a little like a prototype, a concept tool rather than a serious product for the following reasons:
Large and heavy -- the lens itself is a chunky block of Perspex with a reflector in the middle, and then there is the processor, battery and touch controls.
Short battery life -- can be as little as two hours with heavy use. So don't go to the expense of ordering a prescription pair of bifocal lenses on the basis that you are going to wear Google Glasses all day long.
Intrusive camera -- most of the security / social concerns about using these glasses are about the camera and microphone recording people without them knowing. Remove the camera and you instantly remove some weight, and also deal with that worry.
Fashion nightmare -- no fashion designer would design a cool pair of glasses to look like Google Glass (at least not yet) -- for a start, it makes people's faces look unbalanced. A cooler kind of design would have a frame of equal size both sides, into which technology is concealed.
Spooky loss of eye to eye contact -- people are very sensitive indeed to direction of eye gaze. Watch a politician interviewed on TV news, and if he or she keeps looking sideways people it can look like they are insincere, evasive, nervous or lying, Google Glasses images can only be seen by looking sharply up and to the right, which appears rather weird to others and makes it extremely obvious when you are not giving them you total undivided attention.
Review of Google Glass.Most people in my corporate audiences across the world tell me that they are not interested in wearing Google Glasses -- but then by June 2014, most had still never actually held one in their hands.
Google Glass is an ingenious device that feels still a little like a prototype, a concept tool rather than a serious product for the following reasons:
Large and heavy -- the lens itself is a chunky block of Perspex with a reflector in the middle, and then there is the processor, battery and touch controls.
Short battery life -- can be as little as two hours with heavy use. So don't go to the expense of ordering a prescription pair of bifocal lenses on the basis that you are going to wear Google Glasses all day long.
Intrusive camera -- most of the security / social concerns about using these glasses are about the camera and microphone recording people without them knowing. Remove the camera and you instantly remove some weight, and also deal with that worry.
Fashion nightmare -- no fashion designer would design a cool pair of glasses to look like Google Glass (at least not yet) -- for a start, it makes people's faces look unbalanced. A cooler kind of design would have a frame of equal size both sides, into which technology is concealed.
Spooky loss of eye to eye contact -- people are very sensitive indeed to direction of eye gaze. Watch a politician interviewed on TV news, and if he or she keeps looking sideways people it can look like they are insincere, evasive, nervous or lying, Google Glasses images can only be seen by looking sharply up and to the right, which appears rather weird to others and makes it extremely obvious when you are not giving them you total undivided attention.
