Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical Head-Mounted Display
(OHMD). It was developed by Google with the mission of producing a mass- market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in Smartphone- like hands-free format. Wearers communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands. These glasses will have the combined features of virtual reality and augmented reality. Google glasses are basically wearable computers that will use the same Android software that powers Android smart phones and tablets. Google Glass is a useful technology for all kinds of people including the handicapped/disabled. Google Glass became officially available to the general public on May 15, 2014, for a price of $1500. Keywords: Head Mounted Display, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Android.
CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION
Google Glass was developed by Google X,
the facility within Google devoted to technological advancements such as driverless cars. Project Glass is a research and development program by Google to develop an augmented reality head-mounted display (HMD). The intended purpose of Project Glass products would be the hands-free displaying of information currently available to most smart phone users, and allowing for interaction with the Internet via natural language voice commands. These glasses will have the combined features of virtual reality and augmented reality. The Google Glass uses a Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connection to pull in information from Googles mountain of data and display info about the real world in augmented reality on the lens in front of your eye. As you turn your head youll get information about your surroundings and nearby objects from Google Goggles, information on buildings and establishments from Google Maps. Figure 2.1 Overview of Google Glass
The glasses are not being designed to be worn constantly but will be more like smart phones, used when needed, with the lenses serving as a kind of see-through computer monitor. Google glasses like smart phones and tablets will be equipped with GPS and motion sensors. They will also contain a camera and audio inputs and outputs.
1.2 VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual reality(VR), sometimes referred to as immersive multimedia, is a computer-simulated environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world or imagined worlds. Virtual reality could recreate sensory experiences, including virtual taste, sight, smell, sound, touch, etc. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones. Some advanced, haptic systems now include tactile information, generally known as force feedback in medical, gaming and military applications. The simulated environment can be similar to the real world in order to create a lifelike experiencefor example, in simulations for pilot or combat trainingor it can differ significantly from reality, such as in VR games. Virtual reality presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. 1.3 AUGMENTED REALITY Augmented reality (AR), is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer- generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing ones current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one. Augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulateable. Artificial information about the environment and its objects can be overlaid on the real world. 1.4 ANDROID Android is an operating system based on the Linux kernel with a user interface based on direct manipulations, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. The operating system uses touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects, and a virtual keyboard. Despite being primarily designed for touchscreen input, it also has been used in televisions, games consoles, digital cameras, and most recently Google Glass. Android's source code is released by Google under open source licenses. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005.
CHAPTER TWO 2.1 FEATURES The device consists of titaniumrimmed glasses with interchangeable lenses. Google Glass includes headmounted display (HMD) placed above our right eye and camera, which has the ability to take photos at 5MP and record 720p video. Another distinctive feature of the device is the dynamic speaker designed as a vibrating surface contacting the skull of the user. Sound vibrations are conducted directly to the inner ear without generating the audible sound waves. Google Glass is a convergent device that combines the following functions: 1. Communication: email: receive, read and send mails; phone calls: receive incoming calls and dial numbers when connected via Bluetooth with your smartphone on Android or iOS Google Hangouts chats; social networks: posting to social networks Facebook and Twitter. 2. Internet: Google search for information, the results are displayed on the device display; search for geographic location and tracks using Google Maps 3. Supports Apple iPhone 4S/5, as well as Androidbased devices manufactured by HTC. Available only for smartphones on Android OS running My Glass App 4. weather forecast for the next 2 days. 5. Video Diary: recording 720p HD videos (from 10 sec to unlimited duration); take photos 5 MP
Below is a table showing all the technical specifications for Google Glass SPECIFICATION VALUE Operating system Android (4.4.2) Power Lithium Polymer battery (2.1 Wh) Processor Dualcore TI OMAP 4430 (CortexA9), frequency 1.2 GHz Memory 1GB RAM (682MB available to developers) Storage 16 GB Flash total (12 GB of usable memory) Display Prism projector, 640360 pixels (equivalent of a 25 in/64 cm screen from 2.4 m away) Sound Bone conduction transducer Input Voice command through microphone already in place,
2.2 HOW IT WORKS The whole working of the Google glasses depends upon the user voice commands itself.
Besides the graphical interface, Glass recognizes the following English commands: Record a video: ok, glass, record a video Take a picture: ok, glass, take a picture Use Google Now: ok, glass, [question] Google+ hangout: ok, glass, hang out with [person/circle] Search: ok, glass, Google [search query] Image Search: ok, glass, Google photos of [search quer Translate: ok, glass, say [text] in [language] Navigation: ok, glass, give directions to [place] The whole working of the Google glasses depends upon the user voice commands graphical interface, Glass recognizes the following English commands: Record a video: ok, glass, record a video Take a picture: ok, glass, take a picture Use Google Now: ok, glass, [question] Google+ hangout: ok, glass, hang out with [person/circle] Search: ok, glass, Google [search query] Image Search: ok, glass, Google photos of [search query] Translate: ok, glass, say [text] in [language] Navigation: ok, glass, give directions to [place] The whole working of the Google glasses depends upon the user voice commands
graphical interface, Glass recognizes the following English commands: Messaging: ok, glass, send a message to [name] Weather: ok, glass, how is the weather in [location]? Flight Information: ok, glass, when does flight [flight number] depart from [airport]? The quality of speech recognition is exceptionally high, even commands with accent are recognized properly. On / Off button turns the device on and off. When turned on, Glass is active when it can interact with the user and display information, or it goes to a sleep mode, when the display is off and power is conserved. After a period of inactivity, the display will turn off. Turn on the display by tapping on the right side of the device or by tilting your head up. You can set Glass to go into a sleep mode whenever you take it off. This means that the touchpad will become locked; Glass will stop receiving phone calls and will stop playing notification chimes. Capture a photo/video. Press the camera button to capture a picture. After snapping a picture, youll see a brief preview of the shot youve just taken. Capturing video clips with Glass works similarly to taking a picture. Press and hold the camera button. Glass defaults to recording video clips of ten seconds; to continue recording past the default limit, press the camera button. Google Glass Touchpad recognized users motions: - Swipe forward and back to move through items on your timeline; - Touch the touchpad once to select an item; - Swipe down to close menu (and get back to a previous menu entry) and to close mobile apps.
APPLICATION SOFTWARES Google Glass applications are free applications built by third Glass also uses many existing Google applications, such as Google Now, Google Maps, Google+, and Gmail. Third-party applications include Evernote, Skitch, The New York Times Facebook and Twitter. A translation app Word Lens, a cooking app AllTheCooks, and an exercise app Strava among others as successful examples. 2014, Google announced 3 news apps TripIt, FourSquare and OpenTable in order to entice travelers.
2.3 FIELDS OF APPLICATION 1. MEDICINE AND SURGERY: healthcare education, reference, and remote consultation. better form factor than smart phones are for this field. The glasses could show incoming notifications ('Patient A is having a s the perception of surgeons. Tablets and smartphones can also become contaminated by germs. Hands glasses would be much cleaner and safer to use in hospital environments. APPLICATION SOFTWARES Google Glass applications are free applications built by third-party developers. also uses many existing Google applications, such as Google Now, Google
party applications include Evernote, Skitch, The New York Times translation app Word Lens, a cooking app AllTheCooks, nd an exercise app Strava among others as successful examples. 2014, Google announced 3 news apps TripIt, FourSquare and OpenTable in order FIELDS OF APPLICATION 1. MEDICINE AND SURGERY: The quality of pictures and video are usable for healthcare education, reference, and remote consultation. Glasses are an even better form factor than smart phones are for this field. The glasses could show incoming notifications ('Patient A is having a seizure, go to room 212') or enhance
Tablets and smartphones can also become contaminated by germs. Hands glasses would be much cleaner and safer to use in hospital environments.
party developers. also uses many existing Google applications, such as Google Now, Google party applications include Evernote, Skitch, The New York Times, Path, translation app Word Lens, a cooking app AllTheCooks, nd an exercise app Strava among others as successful examples. On May 15, 2014, Google announced 3 news apps TripIt, FourSquare and OpenTable in order The quality of pictures and video are usable for Glasses are an even better form factor than smart phones are for this field. The glasses could show eizure, go to room 212') or enhance Tablets and smartphones can also become contaminated by germs. Hands-free glasses would be much cleaner and safer to use in hospital environments. The first virtually augmented surgery in the Middle East was conducted in April 2014 at the American University of Beirut Medical utilizing software by Vipaar, a remote video software company, which uses Google glasses to allow surgeons to communicate from thousands of miles away. 2. MILITARY: The military already is working on making the Google Glass more suitable to combat conditions for the Army, Air force And Navy. Some of the potential uses include to help soldiers see where their friends are and to identify potentially dangerous people with weapons, help in combat simulations for recruits, help in getting live feeds of operations, etc.
3.JOURNALISM: the media finds Google Glass extremely helpful, interviews, live reports, investigative journalism are just the perk of its application in Journalism. 4. SHOPPING: Imagine picking up a product and the Google Glass scans the QR code and displays everything about that product as date of manufacture, Expiry date, manufacture company, whether it is fake or genuine, etc. 5. EDUCATION: Give students real-time interactive (and subsequently recorded) field trip experiences to difficult-to-reach places like the Particle Collider at CERN, the Oval Office, a war zone, Mt. Everest, Antarctica, Egyptian pyramids, etc. Professor can wear Glass during lectures and open up a hangout so students can participate remotely. Glass can also provide a back-up resource to the professor to call up more detailed impromptu content as required by student questions. Can also be used by student teachers to help them as they learn to teach. Students sitting in lectures can use Glass to help take notes and bookmark important passages, as well as to view extra-classroom content provided to them by the lecturing professor. Glass can provide realtime language translation for foreign students. Provide a simulated (virtual reality) experience to students of intense events such as in an operating room, on the athletic field, or in outer space. In these cases, the wearer is the one directly participating in the simulation, rather than watching as someone else participates. Develop a Glassware app to take attendance and pull recent grades of students to assist faculty in the classroom. 6. NORMAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS Other potential applications are endless.
2.4 ADVANTAGES - Easy to wear and use. - Sensitive and responsive to the presence of people. - Fast access of maps, documents, videos, chats and much more. - A new trend for fashion lovers together being an innovative technology. - A useful technology for all kinds of handicapped/disabled people. I think a lot of concepts for augmented reality turn people off because they seem too overwhelming and distracting. I think that wearable applications need to be highly useful, directed, and provide the minimum amount of information necessary to help the user do what they want to do.
2.4 DISADVANTAGES - Concerns have also been raised on operating motor vehicles while wearing the device These glasses show the retrieved data in front of users eyes so it will be a tough experience for users since they will focus on that data and leading to distractions and eventually accidents. - Concerns have been raised by various sources regarding the intrusion of privacy, and the etiquette and ethics of using the device in public and recording people without their permission - There is another aspect to Google Glass and other wearable computers in education that has a disruptive effect on what students are taught and how they are tested. Stephen diFilipo, CIO at Cecil College, notes that, "With wearables every test becomes open book. The phrase don't teach that which can be Googled has become a familiar cry for those advancing education reform." - There is controversy that Google Glass would violate security problems and privacy rights that people wearing such eyewear may be able to identify strangers in public using facial recognition, or surreptitiously record and broadcast private conversations. - In July 2013, prior to the official release of the product, Stephen Balaban, co-founder of software company Lambda Labs, circumvented Googles facial recognition app block by building his own, non-Google-approved operating system that creates a summary of commonalities shared by the scanned person and the Glass wearer, such as mutual friends and interests. Additionally, Michael DiGiovanni created Winky, a program that allows a Google Glass user to take a photo with a wink of an eye. - Marc Rogers, a principal security researcher at Lookout, discovered that Glass can be hijacked if a user could be tricked into taking a picture of a malicious QR code, demonstrating the potential to be used as a weapon in cyber warfare.
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.google.com/glass http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Glass http://www.smart-glasses.org/benefits-smart-glasses/ http://www.techpark.net/2012/02/29/google-glasses-with-virtual-and- augmented-reality/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/14-google-glass- innovativ_b_5410893.html http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/other-gadgets/project-glass3.htm http://www.quora.com/Google-Glass-4/What-are-interesting-potential-use- cases-for-Google-Glass Google Glass; Overview and User Guide by Polyanskiy Denis 12.11.2013