The Post Social Age

This really extends the idea of wearable computing. We’re heading towards a future where computing and all of the supporting functions, will be distributed across a variety of wearable “devices.” 

Things are going to be very interesting. 

More wearable computing innovation. This is pretty cool:

Microsoft’s 10th annual Imagine Cup, a competition focusing on student technology innovations, ended today with a Ukrainian team taking the top place prize of $25,000. Team quadSquad developed a pair of sensory gloves, called EnableTalk, that translate sign language gestures into speech using a Bluetooth-enabled Windows Phone and Microsoft’s Speech and Bing APIs. The team’s project is designed to improve the lives of deaf and mute individuals by allowing them to communicate verbally.

Microsoft and Microsoft Imagine Cup are clients but I was not involved in this years competition. 

This is the one piece of tech most intruging to me right now. I think it will “kill” the tablet, at least the same way the tablet is killing the PC. 

Wired: What was your thinking when you embarked on the project, and how did that thinking evolve?

Parviz: We did look at many, many different possibilities early on. One of the things that we looked at was very immersive AR [Augmented Reality] environments — how much that would allow people to do, how much could come between you and the physical world, and how much that can be distractive. Over time we really found that particular picture less and less compelling. As we used the device ourselves, what became more compelling to use was a type of technology that doesn’t come between you and the physical world. So you do what you normally do but when you want to access it, it’s immediately relevant — it can help you do something, it would help you connect to other people with images or video, or it would help you get a snippet of information very quickly. So we decided that having the technology out of the way is much, much more compelling than immersive AR, at least at this time.

Location is obviously huge but I think the constant connectivity aspect is also a big factor. 

Personally, I view Glass as more than just a geo-product. The photo-taking experience, we think, is really a key aspect to this. But also the mapping and navigation and location services will really bring a new type of experience on this device.