\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhat is the point of smart glasses?\u00a0 At best they\u2019ll have the computing capabilities of a smartphone, so a pair of smart glasses sounds functionally similar to, say, a headband with a pocket for a smartphone.
\nThe glasses can do one thing the headband can\u2019t: it can produce visual hallucinations.\u00a0 But this sounds incompatible with most of daily life. and not of enough benefit to justify the radical lifestyle change.
\nThis is from Facebook \u2013 does it sound like an inspirational futuristic dream to you?\u00a0 To me it sounds like \u201cClippy, for your visual field\u201d:
\n\nImagine a pair of glasses that add a 3D layer of useful, contextually-relevant and meaningful information on top of the physical world. Such a device could help us perform everyday tasks better \u2014 like finding your keys, navigating a new city, or capturing a moment; but it could also open up an entirely new way of moving through the world. Smartphones are amazing devices, and they\u2019re getting better all the time. But at Facebook Reality Labs, we\u2019re envisioning a time when we have all the benefits of connectivity (and more), without the need to keep our heads and our eyes down, looking at a device. Imagine calling a friend and chatting with their lifelike avatar across the table. Imagine a digital assistant smart enough to detect road hazards, offer up stats during a business meeting, or even help you hear better in a noisy environment. This is a world where the device itself disappears entirely into the ebb and flow of everyday life.
Seriously, \u201coffer up stats during a business meeting\u201d?\u00a0 This sounds like an ill-conceived product from a Tim and Eric \u201cCinco" sketch!
\nIt would be cool to have a HUD for things like the time, your text messages or emails (or at least the subject line), navigation, maybe your heart rate if you\u2019re exercising, even the title of a song that\u2019s playing on your headphones.
\nIn theory, I think it could be pretty unobtrusive. I mean the HUD idea worked great for pilots! It\u2019s not glasses, but it\u2019s the same idea of having an overlay on the visual field.
\nThe stats during a business meeting idea is pretty stupid, I agree.
\nSpeaking as a person who runs weekly D&D sessions,\u00a0\u201cadditional info immediately to hand\u201d sounds incredible. I would absolutely love that.
Right now I have a laptop for that, but it has kind of limited screen real estate - if I could just look left and see a stat block, while having my actual field of view in front of me, towards the players, free from distractions, that would be pretty great.
But I don\u2019t trust these people to punch a nail into wood, much less device actually-useful smart glasses.
Like, think about how every first-person video game has minimaps, destinations, compasses, tags, meters, goal reminders, notifications, highlights of important objects, etc. overlaid in the visual plane
Because humans find it useful!
Like I very specifically remember when we got smartphones with Google Maps and even MapQuest was instantly obsoleted because everyone got a world map on the Pause screen
"}