We have been looking for Google Glass Explorers who want to use Google Glass in new and interesting ways, some of which we wouldn’t have though of.
When we do find someone of interest we will ask them to write a short passage on their journey of Glass discovery, with the idea of spreading the Glass message wide that, its not just for nerds, or geeks. Its for everyone.
Hopefully you will enjoy reading this admittedly small, but interesting series, of which this is the first, in Mar's own words.....
“ Not your typical Glass Explorer ” Mar Dixon
I work* in the cultural and creative sector. My ‘talents’ lie over several areas:
- Social media (proud addict)
- Young people (teensinmuseums.com)
- Kids (kidsinmuseums.com)
- Digital / Tech (using it, not building it and organsing events like MuseomixUK)
- Audience development (getting people into museums and art galleries).
*I’m a troublemaker or advocate, depending on what you need.
I also get to travel … a lot.
I’ve a funny background, I’ve never worked a day in my life in a museum but ‘fell into’ the sector when I moved to the UK and wanted places to take my daughter Charlotte (now 11). Many museums are free in the UK so freely gave my ‘review’ on where museums could be friendlier. Prior to that I’ve been involved with tech/digital since the late 80s until 2000 when I worked for the New Jersey Government as network administrator. Sharing my assessments online was natural.
Since Google Glass was announced, I’ve been asked my opinion on how they could and should be integrated into these areas. I read as many articles as I could to see if I could formulate an opinion, any opinion that could be a guide. When other tech came out (i.e. iPads) it was easy to borrow one to see where they can fit in the cultural sector.
Obviously, that wasn’t an option with Glass. Through a friend’s friend (we all have them, right?), I managed to find someone that was willing to send me an invite.
They arrived on New Years Eve and I can honestly say my world has been turned upside down in a very positive way.
I will admit that I was a tad intimidated at the thought of having a developers pair of Glass. Did that mean I would need to program them to turn them on? How complex would it be to work them? What level of skill would be required? Would I have the patience to deal with this learning curve?
Pretty much straightaway I was able to turn them on and get a feel for what was ahead. Of course the first obstacle was the charger (it’s a US plug) but luckily I was able to charge via USB – whew! Charging takes approximately 2 hours from zero to full.
I gave them to Charlotte and she was able to take a photo and use the touch pad within 3 seconds. When her friends came over, they wanted to know how it worked and how to share pictures (can you say Snapchat?).
I must emphasis the major factor with Google Glass – the community is amazing! Glass is beta and Google is essentially building it real time with a transparency I’ve not seen others even attempt. Of course this transparency has given many targets to attack but I’m confident this model is the only way any busy is going to survive in 2014.
Things I have found (I’ll start with the downsides first):
Battery life: current status of relationship is complicated – some moments I think it’s good others, I noticed I’m down 25% in a blink of an eye. However, on average, I’m managing 5 hours solid with active use.
Strong Wifi needed: I live in the countryside and struggle with Wifi and Broadband on the best of days. Some of the features I thought weren’t working were but only when I was near the router box. (3G is weak in this area and 4G not even an option).
Overheating – not your traditional overheating that you hear about with laptops. Ever so often, Glass will say it needs to cool down. It does feel a little warm to the touch on the touchpad but nothing like my laptop where I would receive 2nd degree burns from it overheating.
Things I love:
Voice recognition. I was worried that I’d had to slow down with my talking or pronounce my words like those people who talk loud and slowly to non-English speaking people. Not so – Glass picked up my voiced straight away. Even recognized my daughters when I was wearing them (and she has a British accent!).
Email, RSS, and Social Media alerts. Hands up, I’m a social media addict (Twitter being my favourite), being able to instantly see and reply in such a time saver! I honestly never thought my phone notifications would be better but the fact that I don’t even have to ‘waste time’ getting my phone out – brilliant!
Taking Pictures and Videos: I’m pretty sure every article you read on Glass is mentioning the camera. I won’t go into it too much but I personality love the Wink and take a picture option.
Glassware (aka Apps): There are various official Glassware you can download using MyGlass (which is like your control panel to Glass). Installing them is rather easy. There are many other developer Glassware that can also be installed using a technique called ‘side-loading’ (eg bypassing MyGlass). I must admit I’ve not be brave enough to try it yet but now that I’ve a Google Nexus to test with I might give it a go. Worse case scenario is I can always reset my Glass to Factory settings.
Where things are Going:
This is the big unknown. For my purpose, I want to see how and where (and if) Glass could/should fit into the cultural sector. Remembering Glass is Beta is important – developers are by no means even getting started on where Glass can go. It’s our job as Explorers to guide developers on our needs.
There was a wonderful conversation on one of the boards related to accessibility. Why is Glass only visual? How can it work with visually impaired? For me, I can understand why Google chose a visual device – we live in a visual world! Majority rules with business. However, that hasn’t ruled the visually impaired out completely. We must remember the importance of the TECHNOLOGY that is being created!
I’ve already envisioned trials and the ability to enter a museum and have an app that could show more (or less) information as you look at an artefact. It could even be able to show a child-friendly version vsan academic.
I’ve also thought that Glass wearers could curate their own collection from items saved on another Glassware Pocket (that saves articles for you).
Eventually, AR could be integrated to bring collections to life, again with a child-friendly option and academic.
These are just a few ideas that I’ve thought of in the little time I’ve been an Explorer. I’m taking my Glass into Birmingham and London in the next few weeks and let Museum people have a go – I’m sure more ideas of potential developmental apps will be shared.
For me, Glass is a major game changer. Will they solve all tech problems, absolutely not. But I’ve always worked on the theory that for real change to happen, we need a strong person to step up and make a statement in order for the debate and learning to begin. Well done to Google for being that contender and for being so transparent with the beta learning with the public.
I personally am proud to be an Explorer.
If you want to find out more about Mar, then head over towww.mardixon.com
Also, if you want your Glass Story featured here, then drop us a line. We would love to hear from you.