So, what have you been up to these days? Not a lot?! Well, perfect – it still is the holiday season, which should be a time to relax and reflect. And that is what we have been doing in this household for the past week. Well at least the relax part. But yesterday morning I went out shopping. Not very exciting, right?! But you know what? It was the first time I left the house for a week. Well, almost a week. I worked on the 23rd of December, but then had the rest of the week off. While it wasn’t absolutely necessary to go shopping yesterday, it just felt good to leave the house for a couple of hours.
One of the reasons it was fun was that I got to play with a new toy. Originally I had gotten it for David as a present, but I figured there is too much online, interactive, social media stuff going along with it, and you know how David is with social media. It also is a little fidgety to operate – hence I am keeping it for myself: A Google Glass. I hear – silence. You heard about Google Glass, right?! In a nutshell: It is a touch and voice activated electronic device in the form of glasses. For me mostly a camera, but it can do a lot more. Several apps have already been written for it and if you are interested find out more about Glass here or here.
I am aware that Google Glass or rather the idea of it is pretty controversial at this time. But I am pretty much always up for innovation, especially if it has the potential to improve lives. It really boils down to using these devices responsibly. As with everything, most people can do that, some cannot. But it should not keep us from trying to learn and improve and invent and develop. So, for me Google Glass is pretty exciting and I will continue to use it. I am not sure how much time I will be spending with Glass, but I will definitely try it out at different occasions like e.g. bike riding. For me at this point an everyday use and wear is out of the question. Maybe if it were attachable to glasses and I’d be wearing those all day, but I am not sure. What I am – almost – sure of is that when Glass will be publicly available there will be an option to have it as an add-on to prescription glasses. And then it will be a whole different story, as it does seem pretty handy to do everything voice operated or to take a picture with the blink of an eye.
I have been and am keeping pretty active over on Google Plus and so I heard about this new gadget through different photographers a while back. And when the time came, I signed up to get an early release, the Explorer model. Little did I expect that I would get it within two weeks. Google can be really quick. I was given the choice of having the Google Glass sent to me or to pick it up myself at Google in New York City. Tough decision to make. Naaah, not at all: Pick up it is!
Perfect timing, too, because I was able to get a pick up and fitting appointment the weekend my friend Michael was visiting from Germany. We were going to the city anyhow to take photos, so a little side trip to Google was no problem. In fact, quite exciting. Come on, who of us normal folk can say they have been at Google?! Sunday morning after breakfast, o.k., so it was more like noon, we drove to the city and parked somewhere in Chelsea. Before going to Google, I figured that giving Michael a quick peek at the Highline Park, despite it being winter, might make him want to come back and explore NYC a little more.
At 10 to 2 pm we got to Chelsea Market. Yep, that is where a small part of Google NYC is located, on top of this beautiful market (the big part is directly opposite). We took the lift up and a young lady greeted us, checking my credentials and handing us our badges. Only a short few minutes later we were led into the big and bright open loft with lots of small desks/cubicles/stands – fill in the word that I am missing / for inspiration check out the photos below – and one of them was ours for about an hour. My customer service rep handed me a big box, which I opened to take out the Glass. The rep set it up with me and we connected it to to Wifi, my iPhone via bluetooth and, of course, my Google Plus account. She explained everything including the online access and helped me fit the Glass correctly, being very patient and making sure I got a handle on it. Obviously I took a few first photos with it right on the spot, while Michael was shooting photos with my iPhone during the process. Exciting stuff!
Here are some of the photos of and with the Google Glass. Some of which I took yesterday on my grocery shopping trip, which brings me back to the beginning of this blogpost: So, what have you been up these days?
Click the pictures to enlarge and click through them
1st pictures of me and my Glass (in part taken with my glass)
2nd pictures taken with my Glass previously (no snow left here)
2nd pictures taken with my Glass yesterday morning shopping (but a little ice)
And I also took a couple of very brief, shaky and un-edited videos with it
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That is pretty darn cool! And it seems to take pretty good pictures too. would definitely be cool if you were on a bike ride, or even horseback and your hands are not free. very interesting — I’ll have to look into this strange new world. ha
Yeah, pretty and yes, the pictures are pretty much on par with the phone’s pics. Purposely I took a few in challenging light situations, but am quite pleased. Now summer needs to come that I can try it out ‘in the wild’ 🙂
That’s pretty cool stuff right there. Definitely something I would love to have a look at and play with!!! 🙂
I know, right? It is fun and you should see some looks I get when I walk around with it. Hah – a woman on Top of the Rocks recognized it and awwwed 😉
Wow, that’s cool indeed! I enjoyed reading your article, Claudia! Visiting Chelsea and the Google Loft has been an exciting and memorable experience, and I must say that feel honored that you really included my pics here. 🙂
I did not expect that the quality of the glasses images would be so good. But as I expected you keep it for yourself. 😉 I fully understand and I am pretty sure that you are going to have a lot more fun with that device!
Michael
Actually in the meantime David has used the Glass a couple of times – he is a little bit of a nerd, too, you know 😀