Hacker News Reader

Comment by siavosh | Hacker News Reader

I loved the video, but it didn't show the glasses on his face. Besides the technical/usability challenges, I think the cultural connotation of the device will be an equally deal/no-deal situation.

Like the Segway, significant portions of the society might associate negative connotations with the device ("dorky", antisocial, pretentious etc).

I remember when a friend bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses with built in headphones. I think amongst my friends, the almost unanimous consensus was that it was not a good social statement to say the least.

This will be a challenge, but I'm sure there's a solution.

View on HN

Cultural bias always shifts abruptly and unapologetically with utility. It was once considered "dorky" to own a cellular phone. The question is not whether they can build/market it subtly enough to shirk societal ridicule, but whether they can make it practical enough to rewrite existing mores.

The Segway obviously lacked that practicality, as did the Oakleys. True augmented reality glasses would certainly not, but I don't know how far along they are towards that goal.

I agree, cultural acceptance or tastes in fashion are hard to impossible to predict. But just on the point of cell phones, I remember they were actually a prestigious thing in the 80's, you remember Zach Morris' brick cell phone in Saved by the Bell?? It was pretty cool

In Sweden cell phones were called "yuppie teddies" and very frowned upon until it catched on.

Most of the folks I know frown on the bluetooth headsets as well - outside of a practical use (hands-free phone while driving).

This is nothing like Segway. Segway users are bound to be seen as too lazy to walk.

But imagine having these glasses on while performing a complicated technical procedure providing you with checklist of activities, enabling you to take pictures as you go.

Or giving a lecture/presentation without having to turn away from the public to peek at your presentation/notes.

Plus in comparison to Segway and bluetooth headphones these would make you look cool.

It just lacks a Brain Computer Interface.

I want one, of both.

I think that's a valid point especially for certain tasks, but it finally hit me what's slightly jarring about the glasses in the scenario the video portrayed.

It creates a very clear seperation between you and the person you're facing, a complete loss of intimacy and focus which right now is the last refuge for non distracted human contact. It's analgous (roughly) to having someone talking to you while looking at their iPhone the whole time. In the personal (ubiquitous) scenario, I can see how glasses like these can be a violent intrusion in our relationships.

My god. I am really curious what is your opinion of sunglasses?

Take them off when speaking to someone. No eye contact no respect.

*Exceptions apply. At the beach is fine.

I wear photochromic prescription lenses and have horrible vision without them. I'm certainly not going to take them off, and you have no way of knowing that they are not sunglasses just by looking at them.

That might explain my lack of aversion to the idea, though. Have to look into that...

"but it didn't show the glasses on his face"

It did not show them on her face, either. That made me wonder whether it would, at some time, become socially acceptable or even the norm to have a video call where both parties do not see each other, but what the other is looking at. I think it might become the norm soon, if there are no technical challenges (how much stabilization do such images need? How much lag will that stabilization introduce? How will the experience be if the connection isn't good enough?)

The gal was likely doing video chat with another devices, such as a laptop, which would mean that Google Glass is not a closed system and can communicate with other platforms.

> both parties do not see each other, but what the other is looking at.

That sounds like a fun way to induce vertigo in your conversation partner. I get nauseous watching people play first-person-shooters on large televisions, I could not deal with following alone with someone's bobbing viewpoint.

I honestly don't see a market for every day use like they show it in this video.

If I saw this on the streets right now I'd get a "bluetooth-headset-douchebag"-vibe

What if they looked like normal glasses/sunglasses? May not be possible in the first revision but certainly a possibility.

/r/futureworldproblems: I'm wearing glasses because I can't afford LASIK, but everybody around me thinks I'm an AR douche

Reply on news.ycombinator.com