The Next Layer.
Smart Glasses are making a comeback, and there is a good reason for it.
Privacy, Data security, and Attention Economy are topics around which I have some strong opinions, and I don’t make any efforts to stop myself from voicing them.
That’s why when I showed my appreciation for the Focals, the most recent take on the infamous wearable, this time by the Canadian company North, some of my colleagues and social media contacts started pointing out what they considered blatant contradictions.
The original google glass had some issues. The awkwardly looking form factor being the most notorious and therefore the one that people usually pick to criticize the technology. Also, carrying a camera and a screen two inches from your face at all times was not a favorite of the public.
The problem with the looks is hard to dispute. The problem with the camera has to do with the location and the fact that the logical thing to do was to assume that it was recording all the time. The problem with the screen was the tradeoff: Conceding too much comfort for too little benefit.
But the thing is that if you compare the issues with this launch with other out-the-door-failures like Amazon’s Fire Phone and (I hope) Facebook’s Portal, google glass’ pains can be vanished solving for context.
Can you think of a setting where fashion is not a problem, recording your perspective at all times is a feature, not a bug, and the benefits of a screen providing uninterrupted-real-time critical information in small bits surpass the inconvenience of wearing it?
Google’s original sin was to showcase the product in a fashion runway instead of an assembly line. That’s what google glass enterprise edition (or just glass) is doing now. Focusing (no pun intended) where replacing your phone’s camera and screen is not only more convenient but adds the value of keeping your hands free, avoiding distractions and even improving security.
And here is where I think that North(or any current manufacturer of smart eyewear for that matter) have a chance. Developments in cloud computing and current capabilities of smart assistants like Alexa or Siri introduce a significant change in context.
A bad web-browsing experience and an invasive camera when you already have your phone are terrible incentives for carrying another device. Accessing an augmented reality platform through the next big interface, Voice, I’d argue, is a whole different thing.
AR is more than monsters interacting with your surroundings. Just like wavelengths above or below the visible spectrum, data generated by our daily activities and interactions have always been there. What’s new is our ability to acquire, process, stream and, more importantly, query it in a contextually-meaningful way.
Yes, everything smart-eyewear can potentially do, your phone is already doing it. But doing it -almost- without using your hands (look at Apple’s current best product: airpods) with a device that blends and has a form factor that makes it disappear in plain sight is something I can’t help but find appealing.
Is your ride arriving? Is there an alarm at home? How far are you and your train from the nearest station? Getting directions, are things for which taking my phone off my pocket can be deemed conveniently unnecessary.
As Chris Messina noted a while ago, we are not too far from a point where we will be buying hardware to access voice-enabled cloud-based artificial intelligence platforms the way we bought a landline to stay in touch with our families.
I think smart glasses are one way to go. What do you think? What’s a device you think will step in to partially replace your phone?
We can continue the conversation in the comments below or on Twitter and Linkedin.
