Google Glasses

I’ve worn glasses since the fourth grade and I’ve been called Poindexter, Four Eyes, Specs. You name it; it’s been thrown in my direction. But, I’m the youngest of five boys so there was nothing others said that could bother me, especially since my family nicknamed me Shithead.

Yup, you read correctly: Shithead. When I was but a wee lad, we traveled to DeerIsle, Maine for Thanksgiving. My uncle had hung a banner that read: Welcome Egertons. You too, Shithead. It stuck.

But, I digress. Despite the barbs tossed my way wearing glasses had never been an issue for me. I’ve worn contact lenses and I’ve considered Lasik eye surgery, but it’d always seemed easier to just don the spectacles.

I guess I’ve never understood why wearing glasses was such a big deal. So, I was happy to hear that in the not too distant future, wearing glasses might actually be considered cool.

Google, the company that is working to develop a driverless car, is developing what could possibly be a “must-have” piece of technology, the Google Glasses.

Google Glasses are being developed in the ultra-secret special projects lab near Google’s MountainView, California headquarters, and they could be the next generation of computing apparatus. Techradar reports that the glasses will run Android, will include a small screen in front of your eye and will include motion sensors, GPS and either 3G or 4G data connections. Google still needs to develop a workable interface, such as voice activation.

Initially, people wearing these glasses might seem odd to onlookers. They'll appear to be talking to themselves and bobbing their heads as they walk to avoid virtual obstacles. But as people adopt the technology, Google Glasses will become mainstream.

I think the advantage of these glasses will be the heads-up display that will provide the user with unobtrusive Internet and phone access. FarhadManjoo states that wearable computers could end up being a fashion statement. They actually fit into a larger history of functional wearable objects—think of monocles, wristwatches, and whistles.

If Google Glasses existed when I was a kid I doubt I’d have been tagged Four Eyes or Specs but I can’t imagine any technology that would prevent my uncle from dubbing me Shithead.

Does anyone care to make a functional fashion statement?