Google's Glass Explorer Edition kit showed up at my house late last week, and I've been living with it ever since. We have first impressions on ergonomics, etiquette, practicality, performance, and the future of Google's wearable computer.
Want to feel like a celebrity (or a tool—is there a difference) in a place like Bakersfield, CA? Walk into an AT&T store wearing Google Glass. Or a local brewery. Or just watch other drivers do double-takes out of your peripheral vision. I did all three and more this past weekend; everyone wants to know, “Is that the latest from Google? How does it work? Can I try?”
The truth of the matter is that there’s a ton of upfront novelty to the Google Glass Explorer Edition kit. It ships in dramatic packaging, which you pry open, exposing the wearable computer resting on the closest thing you get to instructions: bullet points to indicate each button and function.
Also included are Glass Shades and a Glass Shield, the former a collaboration between Maui Jim and Zeal Optics to double as sunglasses and the latter to protect your eyes on windy days. Of course, you can also use Glass without either. A drawstring pouch with a hardened base protects Glass when you aren’t using it. A flexible USB cable facilitates charging and data transfer, while a USB-to-AC adapter plugs into the wall as an alternative power source.
When it comes to discussing hardware, it's most natural for me to dive right into tech specs, since that’s often where we get the best sense for performance. In this case, Glass' internals don’t seem to be as relevant (although Jay Lee, a Google Apps Solutions Architect, discovered that the SoC inside is a TI OMAP4430). The experience is far more important, and that equally involves speed, features, weight, battery life, and the interface.
With that said, it's still nice to know what Glass can and can't do:
| Google Glass Tech Specs | |
|---|---|
| Display | Equivalent of a 25-inch HD screen from eight feet away |
| Camera | Photos: 5 MP |
| Video: 720p | |
| Audio | Bone Conduction Transducer |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g (2.4 GHz-only) |
| Bluetooth | |
| Storage | 12 GB usable memory; 16 GB total |
| Charger | Bundled micro-USB cable and AC charger |
| Compatibility | MyGlass app currently requires Android 4.0.3, enabling GPS and SMS messaging |
The Ergonomics of Glass
So, right off the bat, what’s it like wearing Glass? Carrying it around? Glass isn’t one of those devices you can easily leave the house with and discreetly tuck away if you find yourself getting stared at. The frame is flexible in that it’ll stand up to significant bending, but you can’t fold the arms back. So, you’re wearing them, you’re holding them in your hand, or you’re carrying around the protective bag like a little murse, in my case.
Fortunately, you probably won’t find yourself pulling Glass off due to physical discomfort. That is to say, it fits well. As-configured the bridge sat on my nose delicately, and I didn’t have an issue wearing Glass for hours at a time. The Explorer Edition kit came with two additional sets of pads, so I’m sure if the originals weren’t quite right, I could have done a bit of customization.
You’ll also notice that one of Glass’ arms is longer than the other. The side with all of the electronics extends past my head a bit—but not so much that it interferes when I lean back in the car. Glass appears as though it might be imbalanced on your face; it’s light enough, though, that this isn’t noticeable. On a digital scale, Glass weighs 43 g (sans Shade or Shield), while my Ray-Ban Warriors weigh 37 g.
I don’t wear glasses or contacts, so sliding in the bundled Shield during the day wasn’t a big deal for me when I needed protection from the sun. However, multiple folks wearing their own corrective lenses reached for Glass, eager to try it out, only to realize the incompatibility with a second frame. The good news is that Google’s team already has plans in place to support prescription glasses in the not-too-distant future. Moreover, the company readily admits that eye strain or headache aren’t unheard of. I still remember when Half-Life 2 came out and some gamers reported nausea. Likewise, this is going to be a technology that simply doesn’t agree with everyone’s physiology.
The only other issue I stumbled across was a tendency to hold Glass by the more rigid right side. Because that’s where all of the electronics are stashed (most notably the touchpad), I snapped untold pictures of the ground as I walked around with Glass in my hand. Enabling On-Head Detection should have fixed this, but it isn’t foolproof; the sensor that’s supposed to be calibrated for your face still picks up hands.
So, if you don’t find yourself tugging at Glass due to sore ears or a sensitive nose, whatmight get you looking for a place to stash the shades? This topic could turn into a story unto itself. But based on my weekend with Glass, anywhere you’d feel weird holding a camcorder out in front of you could make any halfway-considerate person worry that they’re causing others discomfort, even if you're not doing anything wrong at all. Sitting on a bench at a playground? Yeah, Glass makes you look creepy. At a bar with Glass on? Sorta odd-looking. Just sitting with my family, eating dinner, I had an older gentleman snap something at me about “messing with those cell phone glasses,” and he didn’t even know what they were.
Although the brewery where we were dining didn't have any opinion one way or the other about me wearing Glass inside, other businesses have already pushed back against the technology, including a bar in Seattle and a strip club in Vegas.
But I also think that the attitude towards Glass in more common settings is going to change over time. More than once, I found myself with my hand up to my temple, navigating around text messages or fiddling with video I had captured earlier, aimed right at someone who was staring at me, wondering why this guy appeared to be looking back, frantically swiping at his head. Yeah, that’s awkward when the other person doesn’t know what’s going on. It’s a little easier to shrug off when you're aware that it takes an "OK Glass...take a picture" to snap a shot. You might want to think of this as a step beyond the folks who walk around with Bluetooth headsets in their ears, seemingly talking to themselves.
The privacy debate is going to be an issue long after Glass becomes widely available, but mostly because Glass is conspicuous. If someone wanted to take creeper shots all day long, they’d do it with something that didn’t scream “check out the camera strapped to my face,” and they’d get away with it. There would be no discussion because nobody would be the wiser. I’d probably be more worried about the other direction—the ramifications of pushing photos and video of my life online. Within hours of Marcus posting Google Glass: Ride Along With Chris as He Goes for Lunch, someone had figured out my address and a faster way I could have gotten back from Taco Bell.
None of that bothers me, despite the fact that I’m generally a super-private person (it’s all public record anyway). Fortunately, Marcus edited the video and blocked my credit card as I pulled it out to pay. It’s the inadvertent stuff like that folks should fret about when it comes to more candid, intimate moments in their life making their way online. It’s bad enough the government does so much of this behind our backs already.
I’d recommend that common sense dictate the right and wrong places to use Glass. But so little of that virtue is exercised nowadays. The folks who need to hear it aren’t even listening. And that’s why Glass is going to be the next thing law enforcement bans to prevent distracted driving.
The Performance Of Glass
What can you expect from the hardware comprising Glass? No doubt, Google chose the platform’s specifications in an attempt to balance performance and battery life. Given the operations currently available (at least in the XE4 build; my Glass hasn’t updated to XE5 yet), speed really isn’t an issue. Battery life is far more important to address.
Glass ships with 16 GB of flash, 12.6 GB of which is reported usable. That’s a ton of space for pictures and 720p video. There’s no way to fill the device up in one sitting, though. From a full charge, I recorded 52 minutes and 32 seconds, filling 1.88 GB, before depleting the battery. More casual use is pretty consistent with what other folks have already reported—I’d expect five or six hours of use if you’re looking up driving directions, snapping random pictures, sending some texts, and recording some 10-second videos. I don’t see how you’d get a full day of use out of Glass at this point. Google does appear to be taking steps to shore up battery life; an update to XE5 changes Glass’ sync policy to require power and Wi-Fi for background uploads.
The 5 MP camera takes remarkably good-looking pictures in natural light. Its performance falls off quickly indoors or as it starts getting darker outside, though. The same goes for video quality. You get a great picture outdoors with consistent lighting. In a fluorescent-lit room, video is a lot grainier and washed-out.
Glass’ microphone is most effective at close range, so long as you can keep it shielded from the wind. Even in a bar, with lots of ambient noise, it’s super easy to distinguish between the background bustle and foreground conversation. The downside is that, if you're recording video, as your subject gets farther away, they quickly get more difficult to hear. And if you're driving 20 MPH with the windows down, the mic is buffeted hard enough to drown out anything else.
Despite a connection to a plenty-fast wireless router at home, voice and image quality aren’t nearly as crisp as I was expecting using the “hang out with…” command. I synced up with our news director, Marcus Yam, over the weekend, and what he saw from Glass was pretty pixelated and choppy. And while I could hear his voice well enough, calling the video feed a slide show would be generous. The same applied to a call with senior editor Don Woligroski, who reported a pretty terrible-looking picture on his Nexus 7. No combination of tethered LTE or at-home Wi-Fi got us any better than this. A third call from my PC was a lot smoother, so we know Google’s hangouts at least have the potential for fluid motion and reasonable quality.
Coming back the other way, Google’s bone conduction transducer does an admirable job playing sound back into your inner ear. Funnily enough, Glass sounds best when you plug your ears with your fingers. Frequency response is lost otherwise. But I could go back and watch my recorded videos, I understood the turn-by-turn directions narrated to me, and Google did a beautiful job translating phrases in different languages to me. Spectacular. My biggest complaint is that volume cannot be adjusted. So, any time I jumped on a phone call in the car I had to roll up the windows, turn down the radio, and shut off my air conditioning to understand the other end. Even standing next to a busy street was too loud to carry on a conversation using Glass via Bluetooth.
Google Glass Screencast via MyGlass App on Samsung Galaxy S4
The prism projector is less obtrusive than I thought it’d be. Google claims it’s equivalent to a 25-inch high-def screen from eight feet away, and you’ll see it appear above your right eye’s normal field of vision. Output appears in your peripheral vision, but you do need to look up to see clearly. Readability and responsiveness are both good, and the display is bright. Right away, I noticed that two of Glass’ pixels were dead. Four or more need to go out before Google considers the projector defective, though.
One reader asked how Glass adapts to adverse conditions. The projected screen is very difficult to read in direct sunlight (in the image above, I’m in the car—the sun can’t be avoided). But the camera sensor works well enough. Moreover, you can glance up above the windshield and get the display in a more readable position if you really need to see something. I didn’t have any rain at my disposal, though Google is explicit that Glass shouldn’t get wet.
The Requirements of Glass
It’s also worth noting the limitations of Glass in its current incarnation. First of all, while it paired just fine with my iPhone 5 over Bluetooth, turn-by-turn directions and text messaging aren’t available. For this, you need an Android 4.0.3 or higher-based device and the MyGlass app installed. TechCrunch claims that this will soon change, but to get my initial impressions down, I had to run down to the local AT&T store and buy a new phone.
After that $700+ spend, I figured out that Glass also needed a Wi-Fi connection to the phone in order to connect to the Internet. That means you need a tethering plan. I’m seldom on the road, so I was cruising along with 300 MB/month of data. Now I need 5 GB/month to get mobile hotspot functionality (which turns off Wi-Fi when it's active, meaning you’re pulling a lot more information down over LTE than before). That’s $20 more a month.
The Future of Glass
Glass hasn’t even officially begun its life yet. It’s in the hands of very few folks, and the capabilities Google shipped it with are still few. Already developers are arming Glass with lock screens, wink-recognition (for snapping photos), support for Reddit, and Twitter access. To the folks derided Glass as a buggy first-generation product, give it a chance to get out of the training wheels. Yeesh.
As Google improves Glass through updates like XE5 and gets the platform onto more heads (hopefully at a better price than the $1,500 we spent), you’re going to see a lot of people using Google’s software products that weren’t before. I’m on Facebook fairly often. I use Twitter occasionally. Google+ is not in my regular rotation. Post-Glass, however, it’s obviously a lot more important. And there are clear paths to the company’s other technologies, too.
How about Glass in the Angelini household? It’s certainly not leaving with me every time I run an errand, and mostly because of the form factor. I’m just not comfortable wearing Glass everywhere, and I’m not carrying them around in a pouch when they’re off my head. I don’t have unrealistic expectations about the battery, the projector doesn’t give me a headache, and I had minimal trouble with Google’s voice recognition—many of the gripes I’ve read elsewhere haven’t soured my experience. But Glass is as inconvenient in your hands as it is helpful sitting on your head, I’m not particularly enthused about adding $20 to my cell plan, and some of the rough edges (like low call volume and poor A/V quality in hangouts) still need to be smoothed over.
Google Glass from the Eyes of a Toddler
Regardless of what Google eventually charges for Glass, I see a lot of folks waiting on the sideline for their killer app. Take it from a dad, though: there’s something to be said for playing with your kid and recording it, rather than watching him run around, passively, through a smartphone camera (50 minutes of video at a time, that is). And if you want a different perspective, try turning the tables. I did it as a joke (and because I figured my wife would find it cute). Turns out it's actually pretty cool to get reminded what everything looks like from half my height.
