Google declined to participate in this story. Beyond Google, companies like Aira, Osterhout Design Group and Vuzix are hoping that people may finally warm to smart glasses as they introduce new designs and figure out different ways to use the tech. Surgeons are wearing ODG's glasses when performing a discectomy to relieve pressure from a herniated disk, for instance, with real-time X-ray feeds showing up on the heads-up display. The US military is now outfitting some soldiers with AR glasses that show the local terrain overlaid with a map. Factory workers may soon wear specs that display digital instructions for assembling a product. And smart glasses are remotely connecting experts with maintenance workers to repair complex equipment in the field. It's why research firm Forrester predicts 14 million US workers will don smart glasses by 2025.
New applications are transforming smart eyewear into useful tools for doctors, soldiers, remote workers and the visually impaired, "There's absolutely zero question that head-worn computing cannot be stopped," Ralph Osterhout, CEO of Osterhout Design Group, told me in an April interview, A future where total protection iphone 6s / 6 case & screen protector pack - clear you head out the door with phone, keys and smart glasses isn't that far-fetched, That's because the world you see through the new crop of glasses is different from what we expected from Google Glass, thanks in large part to Apple, Microsoft and Facebook pouring billions of dollars into augmented reality, Unlike virtual reality, which immerses you in a fictional universe, AR technology inserts digital images over the ones you're seeing in the real world, Think Yelp reviews that pop up when you point your phone's camera at a local restaurant, or spotting "pocket monsters" in the park when you're playing Pokemon Go..
It's not a stretch to imagine that smart specs may help you "see" these digital AR layers as you walk around town or shop at the mall. Thanks to Snap's $130 colorful plastic Spectacles, people aren't even that wigged out by seeing cameras embedded into eyewear. Now, if we can just get past that uncool factor. "You get used to seeing things a certain way, and suddenly it changes on you," he tells me that May afternoon as we sit on his living room couch, the sound of emergency sirens occasionally blaring on his street.
The view from Aira agent Jessica Jakeway's dashboard as Manser ran the Boston Marathon, A swimmer in college, Manser's total protection iphone 6s / 6 case & screen protector pack - clear activity slowed significantly as his vision worsened after graduation -- at one point, he gained 70 pounds, But he says his background in sports and the support of fellow athletes helped him find his way back to running marathons and competing in Ironman contests, He's been using the Aira mobile app for 10 months and Glass since January, (Aira previously was just the app that relied on your phone's camera to give its remote guides a video feed.)..
When Manser dials in via the app, an Aira agent gets the feed from the camera mounted in Glass. The agent also sees a second screen with the customer's location on Google Maps or Street View, along with relevant local data like bus schedules or restaurant reviews. At first, Manser used Aira for help with things like negotiating a crowded train station, cooking and basic runs. Then in February, he and Kanuganti talked about using it during the Boston Marathon as an extreme test of the system. "We knew it was a stretch, but we wanted to push it," Kanuganti says. The race was just two months away.